A Broken Promise
by RadaVonVon
Summary: When the Tallest decide to give up on Impending Doom, only one Invader actually survives the execution! That one unlikely decides to fight back, but what will happen when love blossoms? And is then torn apart? DATR, ZATF, and ZADF. -COMPLETE-
1. The Betrayal

_**Prologue**_

**Tak didn't care. Tak didn't even pay that much attention. No; Better yet, she paid absolutely no attention. No, not even when she could hear the siren song of the laser gun going off. It was coming for her. It was coming straight to her. And there was nothing that would ever be done about it. She barely felt the pain. No. She felt no pain. She was Tak. The female Irken could feel the warmth of her** **own blood seeping into the shoulders of her Invader uniform.**

**Still, no pain. Yes, she was partially surprised. She was not scared. Right. She could tell herself that over and over and over again, but no matter how many times she did, she always found a way to deny herself. The edges of her vision were slowly going black and fuzzy, dimming. She felt the sharp stones beneath her digging into**

**her knees. And that was when Tak fell.**

_**Where am I?**_

The only thing Tak could really feel was the almost electrical sensation right in the center of her forehead. For several moments, she enjoyed it, the wonderful, numb consciousness. She shoved herself up, then swore vehemently in her native language as she fell backward again. She forced her violet eyes open.

Tak forced her eyes open, squinting at first, then gradually opening them further. She flinched. She could feel the IV in her hand, and winced slightly. The electrical sensation was now changing. It was burning. It hurt her. The hand that didn't have the IV flew to it, and she let out a terrible, high-pitched cry.

She could feel a tear going down her face, although her eyes were now clenched shut. Then it stopped. The pain was ebbing away to a dull throb. She could feel someone gently squeezing her hand. Her head slowly tipped, and she opened her eyes, staring into the face of Dib. He was older now. Then she remembered it had been nearly ten earth years. She tried to make the words come out, but her mouth didn't seem to work at the moment. Dib just rolled his chocolate eyes at her.

The next thing he said, she did not expect. "'You alright, Tak?" She looked at him, then sneered. "I do- don't need your help!" She swung her legs over, but fell. "Another reason Irkens are idiots." Dib muttered. "You should be dead by now, you know." He stated somewhat forcibly.

Tak let herself go back against the pillow with a sigh. "Tell me what happened." She didn't have the energy to fight right now. She wasn't even sure how she got here. Dib looked at her. "I think… Someone shot you with a laser."

Something rushed through Tak's mind. Everything flooded back. The memory was numb, but still there. The laser being fired… The blood… Urgh. The blood. It made her shiver. Then it hit her like a smack in the face. The one who had fired the laser… It had been… No… Not possible! But, it was. It was totally possible.

Yes… Now she remembered. The memory was clear. She remembered being there.

Flashback…

"_There's a reason we have called all of you," Red's voice rang out among all of the Invaders, who were all in salute. All of the Invaders except Zim, of course. Tak's hand was raised to her forehead in salute. Her heart fluttered._

"_We have decided… To give up on Impending Doom." The gasps of shock rang out through all of them, and they sent confused glances at each other. Then why were _they _here?_

"_The Invaders are no longer needed… And therefore…" SIR units began to come in, each taking a place behind an Invader. "You all have been labeled as defectives."_

_Tak, and all of the others paled as something was jammed into all of their PAKs by the SIRs. She blacked out immediately._

_The next thing she remembered was the laser… Firing straight at her head. She had shown no fear. She could remember the sharp stones digging their cruel edges into her knees, then falling over altogether.._

The rest of it was a blur to her. She did find tears running down her cheeks, however. Betrayed! Betrayed by her own leaders! She clenched her eyes shut, and immediately looked away from Dib, shamefully, even, so he couldn't see her crying.


	2. A Fight for the Mind

_**A Fight for the Mind**_

**Hi, guys! ; Sorry about the last chapter, it was a bit rushed. Especially the ending; I had to go to bed. So… Sorry about that one! Hehehe… oo; But, I'm glad people are **

**actually liking this…(This is my first time writing something solo. I'm used to writing a story with a partner, so this is really awesome!) I just typed the Prologue at random, then built on that, and felt like writing a DATR, so… Here it is! I promise I'll do my best to carry this out until the end, everyone! Tallest Yellow**

**P.S. Thank you to JoeMerl for encouraging me to continue! And being the first reviewer! **

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INVADER ZIM! INVADER ZIM BELONGS TO THE ALMIGHTY TALLEST JHONEN VASQUEZ!**

After several days of drifting into and out of unconsciousness, Tak finally found herself able to walk. She spent a lot of her time alone. Most of her memories were fogged. Why had they wanted to execute them…? Irk, those two were idiots! Her hands clenched into fists beside her head.

There was a scar near the base of her neck- Although most of the wound had already healed, special thanks to her PAK. Finally, she leaned back and rested her head against the wall. Most of the details from what had happened weren't there, which ticked her off even more, and gave her a headache.

One thing that distracted her was Dib. She would wonder why he was even bothering… Didn't he hate the Irkens anyway? She groaned as her head began to hurt more. She kept telling herself she was just using the Dib-human until she was strong enough to figure out what was _going on!_

Tak stood up, walking up to the mirror. The right shoulder of her uniform was stained with green Irken blood. She knew it was her own, and it made her shudder. Just a little bit. Okay, it completely freaked her out.

One of her antennae twitched, and she winced as she rolled her shoulder. There was still… A little pain. There was something the Dib-human had called _stitches _in it. She had a vague idea of what those were.

Tak gingerly rolled down the shoulder of her uniform. It was a huge white star, going from her collarbone to her shoulder. It looked like the idiots had also missed her several times, for two blasts were visible. The second was on the side of her head, near her nonexistent ear, then stretching out to the hollow between her neck and collarbone.

She sighed and pulled the shoulder back up, covering up where it looked like the first blast had been fired. Pft… They _still _hadn't had decent enough aim to kill her. Then it struck her. What had happened to all the other Invaders?

A cold, dead feeling went down Tak's spine. _They were dead._ It took her several moments to grasp it; The thought that the Irken Armada's finest soldiers were… She didn't even want to finish that _thought._ She shivered, though not from cold. She staggered backward again, although kept her dark purple eyes trained on the figure in front of her.

She suddenly saw it. She was helpless, alone, and depending on a… a… a _HUMAN! _She suddenly found herself sneering at herself in the mirror. Dark green shades of anger were brought to her cheeks. Why was he helping her, anyway?

Tak's knees suddenly began to wobble under her. She had overexerted herself. She swore in Irken, which had apparently become a habit of hers. She stumbled backwards, and was suddenly glad the bed she had just been sitting on was there. All she needed was to rest. Right…?

Yes. It would come to her eventually! Definitely! She sighed, shoving every thought out of her mind. She yanked those… Earth blankets over herself, and buried her face into the pillow, suddenly exhausted. Although she didn't sleep. She cried.

She wasn't sure how long she cried. She wasn't sure why she cried. Oh… Maybe because the people she had tried only to serve her entire life had betrayed her? Ever since she was hatched as a smeet, the only thing she had tried to do was serve her Almighty Tallest.

_What if it was me?_

_No, don't be ridiculous!_

_I'm not… _

She continued to sob as she argued with herself in her own mind.

_Oh, Irk… This was my fault! I should have captured Zim!_

_Zim… _Tak's mind traveled back, back much, much further.

_Flashback…_

_She was down on her hands and knees, in front of the Control Brain. _

"_Please! Please let me take the test!" Her hands were clasped in front of her, and tears were near streaming down her face. No answer. There never was an answer, no matter how hard she begged the Control Brain._

_Tak always lost. Every time. It was sheer bad luck, or, that was what she had managed to convince herself it was. Sheer, utter, pure, bad luck. No, she knew better. It was Zim's fault. _

Tak's eyes snapped open. She didn't know how long she had been asleep. Light was shining through the black curtains. For once, she was thankful Dib had a spare room that he let her use, rather than staying in the lab.

The purple-eyed Irken stood up, and opened the curtains. The Earth's sun was shining brightly, it blinded her, and she was forced to turn away. Hissing like a terrified cat. Her mind needed a moment to wrap itself around this new flash of her own memory.

There was a soft knock on the door. Dib rarely bothered her, except to check her heart rate, which her PAK automatically kept track of, so it wasn't a big deal. "Tak? Can I come in?"

Tak was silent for several moments, before calling, "Okay." Dib slowly entered, running a hand over his head. "Tak, I took some tests… And I… I…" He began to stammer, staring at her in the sunlight. Her eyes looked beautiful in the sun of Earth. Several different shades of lavender, lilac, and violet. From dark, to nearly off-white.

"I… I uh…" He blinked his chocolate eyes through his glasses. "I ran some… Uh… Tests… On your mind… And… I… I think… Uh…"

"Spit it out, human!" Tak hissed, suddenly irritated. She had no idea why.

"I think you have half of your memory!"

**Meh. XD Well, doing my best on this. Hope it looks okay. More tomorrow, I have to go to bed now. Goodnight, everyone!**


	3. That Sick Feeling Called Nostalgia

_**That Sick Feeling Called Nostalgia**_

**Hey guys! Just wanted to say… CHICKEN FINGERS! O.0 Okay. I'm done now. Oh, and I guess I figured out where I came up with the idea for this. The song "Monsters" by Matchbook Romance. Listen to it. Good song. Guess I thought of it subconsciously when I started to write it. Shrugs and adds it to play list I've also been reading the Twilight series. Not bad. I'm on New Moon. Although my friend SAVANNAH, glares Spoiled everything for me. Then again… I told her to… Thinks Brain a'splodes I was going to go to bed, but my insomnia's getting the best of me, it looks like. Hehe. ; I'll try to make this chapter long, sorry, these have been short. TT; And hopefully this will get better as it goes. That's all for now! Enjoy the chapter!**

Tak glanced at Dib, then let her head fall back against the wall, one of her curled antennae twitching irritability. "I could have figured that out on my own!" She hissed. There were several long moments of silent, before Tak spoke up again. "Why are you helping _me?"_ She asked hotly, eyes shifting over to him.

Dib looked blankly over to the wall. "I couldn't just leave you there to die…" His tone was actually somewhat helpful, as if he were suggesting something. "How old are you now?" Tak suddenly demanded.

He was quite obviously taken aback. "I'm… Uh, sixteen." He said, standing up and shuffling his feet awkwardly. "Ah." Tak immediately turned around, opening the curtain slightly and peering out. She felt a very faint sense of nostalgia, as she looked out to see two human children throwing a ball to each other.

She shook it off almost immediately. She wouldn't have these feelings! Or… She shouldn't, at least. It took her several moments, staring into space, before she could even hear Dib talking.

"So… Tak, are you even listening?" He asked hotly, clearly irritated.

"Huh? Oh…"

Dib huffed, obviously annoyed. "Can I see the stitches?" He asked, sighing. "Why do you care so much?" Tak demanded in a harsh tone. Dib gritted his teeth. "I don't know!" He barked suddenly, in a louder voice than he probably should have.

Tak flinched, one of her antennae twitched in hesitation. She looked down, feeling slightly guilty, then tried to shrug it off in anger. _Stupid… Stupid… _

"Sorry." Dib sighed. "Listen, Zim's disappeared. No one knows where he went off to. Even that stupid house he had is gone." Tak looked up immediately in alarm at the mention of Zim. "What do you mean?" Her voice was slightly choked.

Dib completely ignored her question. "Then, you show up." He rolled his eyes in an almost extravagant way, it almost scared her. "Is there something going on with the Irkens?"

The young paranormal investigator eyed her suspiciously.

Tak didn't answer, retaliating how Dib had ignored her question. "Where's my ship?"

"_What?_"

"You heard me. Where is my ship?

"Downstairs in the garage, but it hasn't worked for-"

Tak bolted out the door and down the stairs. Her heavily booted feet slammed against the concrete, and she shoved the door to the garage open. There it was. She sighed. She knew why it probably didn't work.

Slipping under the ship, she muttered something. "Ha… Stupid human. Never bothered to connect the tank… That's why it wasn't running!" She murmured aloud.

The next thing she felt was the sharp tug on her feet, yanking her out from under it. Dib looked irritated. "Listen, you owe me." He growled.

"I owe you nothing." Tak suddenly growled. "Oh, yes you do." Dib said, his voice somewhat merciless. "What do you mean?" She asked, violet eyes narrowing slightly. "I saved your life." He smirked. "Now…" He pulled her up. "You owe me yours."

"What do you want?" Tak asked angrily, her patience with him was quickly disappearing. "I want you to take me where your going."

She froze suddenly. Where was she going? She couldn't go to the Tallest… Or… Could she? What if it had been a mistake? What if something had been done wrong? Yes… Okay. That'd work.

_Liar. _She thought. _You know you can't go. Why lie to yourself? Hm? Got an answer? That's what I thought._

"Listen, I want to learn about the aliens-"

"Superior race." Tak corrected immediately.

"Your kind." Dib argued without answering. "And this could be a great opportunity!" Tak imagined it for a moment with almost no thought.

"Er… Well… I… It could be dangerous!" She argued quickly. Personally, she wasn't quite sure why she automatically assumed it. Probably some sort of weird instinct. Yeah. Probably.

"Right."

"But I don't even know what I'm doing, or where I'm going!" Tak said, actually almost shouting at him. Her own anger surprised her, well, not really.

"So what? I'm going with you, and that's that." Dib stated, getting up and climbing into the ship. Tak sighed and rubbed her temples. Her head was beginning to ache again. She could tell something big was about to change, she just didn't know what. And, with that, she climbed into her ship.


	4. The Sleeping Angel

_**The Sleeping Angel**_

**Konban wa! (For those of you who don't speak Japanese, that would be "Good evening!) O genki desu ka? ("How are you?") Ah… Gome ne. ("Sorry.") I've begun to take this course in Japanese. Rocket Japanese, It isn't bad. If you have an obsession with anime like I do, you should take it. Anyway, it's 9:23 as I type this, and I'm sorry. TT; Usually I start to write around 8:00... Headdesk Well, I've got a little bit of a cough, so maybe that'll keep me up. Hehe. XD I'll try to update every day. Except for Fridays, I usually spend the night at my friend's. Mondays, it'll probably be late, because I have Girl Scouts right after school. Meh… T.T I'm hiding in the bathroom to write this, you guys better be happy! I have an Academic Team Meeting in the morning at 8... -.- And have to wake up at 6... Oh well. Sigh All in the name of literature.**

**DISCLAIMER: INVADER ZIM**** IS THE PROPERTY OF JHONEN VASQUEZ AND VIACOM! If I did own it, I'd kill to get it back on the air! **

The stars looked quite beautiful that night… Or day. Or whatever it was when Tak gazed out the window at the magnificent sight. "… Wow." She jumped as she heard Dib's voice behind her. "It's so… Wonderful." Tak briefly glanced over her shoulder. He would be a pain. That was for sure. Glancing at the front panel, she typed in the coordinates for Irk with one of her three-fingered hands. Dib glanced at her. "Are you sure of what your doing?" He asked slowly.

"You shouldn't have come if you didn't trust me. Tak answered hotly.

"Well sorry…" Dib grumbled under his breath. The next several minutes were followed by silence as they looked away from each other.

"Err… So…" Dib began awkwardly. When he glanced over at Tak, she was asleep. Both of her deep purple eyes were shut, and she was breathing with a deep silence. He fell silent, deciding not to wake her. She'd claw his face off if she knew he said this, but… She looked cute when she was asleep.

She wasn't at all that menacing alien coming to destroy the earth… She was something different. Something more… Human.

It was strange, but it was true. Tak now seemed somewhat human. With a very small smile, Dib removed his trench coat and put it over the Irken. She shuffled, her hand feeling for it in sleep, and pulled it further up over her.

Dib glanced at her, then looked around the ship. It was pretty small, and he was surprised to find there wasn't a lot of equipment in it. For a split second, he wondered why he didn't need any oxygen helmet, or something like that, then sighed and decided not to question an advanced alien race's technology. Not exactly his call there.

He decided to look out the window again.

Several hours passed, and Tak remained asleep. She would shift occasionally. Although, after a while, it became clear she was having a nightmare. She'd cry out things like, "NO!" And, "Please let me be an Invader!" On one occasion, she'd actually begin to cry.

When that happened, Dib would calmly walk over and whisper softly to her. Things like, "It's okay, Tak." In truth, he had no idea why he bothered with her. She had tried to enslave humanity. And yet, there was still that sense of admiration Dib felt for her.

Tak was younger than Zim. But she could still do a lot of things better than him. She could invade an entire planet better than him, for starters. She could capture someone's heart easier than anyone. That was for sure.

Dib shot a glance toward the very back of the ship. There was a transmission. He hesitated, then stood up and decided to look at it. Right before the transmission played, there was some junk about it being pre-recorded. Then it began.

"Hello… Tak." Tallest Red said. He had one of those, I'm-so-much-better-than everyone-else looks." Dib could vaguely recognize these two as the Irken leaders. "How's your mission going?" Purple inquired, raising one of his two fingers. Apparently this had been a transmission Tak had saved. He didn't have any idea why, though. He had a slight sense of guilt for doing this, but it went away as things got interesting.

They went on and on about things they probably shouldn't have said. Things about the Resisty, the plan for the Irken armada. All of that. When it was over, he realized he had been sitting there for four Earth hours. He stood up and stretched. Then he realized that their destination was up ahead.

He stared ahead. The planet was beautiful, and oddly resembled a marble. It was a bright, lime green, with delicate aqua swirls. He glanced at Tak.

She was even more beautiful than Irk.

**Okay, well, Irk was never seen in Invader Zim. I know it sounds weird, but it's true. Irk was never seen. So I made something up. And I do know Irkens don't need to sleep, but who says they can't be a little bit human? Shrug I have to go to bed now, guys. Oh! it's 11:09! Two minutes 'till I make a wish that'll come true! I bid you all a good night.**

**SAYONARA! **


	5. Tears of Silver

_**Tears of Silver**_

**Hey, everyone. Before we start, I want to get something clear:**

**I will never, ever, ever, write a lemon. Ever. If you're expecting a lemon, sorry to disappoint you. You're in the wrong place. In my opinion, a middle-schooler shouldn't be writing a lemon. If you don't like it, then stop reading. **

**On a happier note, that Academic Team meeting went well. And for those of you reading Trial and Error, I'm sorry we haven't updated it. We're also working on another FF on TallestBlue's account, if anyone is interested. I'll try to convince her to let us update for you guys. I know the last chapter was a tad fluffy, but I figured we needed it. This chapter will have some more action. **

**ENJOY THE CHAPTER!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INVADER ZIM! INVADER ZIM WAS CREATED BY JHONEN VASQUEZ**

When Tak sat up, her head began to spin almost immediately. She winced, and waited it out for several moments. When she opened her eyes, she could see Irk ahead. Glancing to the side, she could see Dib gazing at it with awe. Tak decided to ignore him, until she could feel the shoulders of his trench coat on her shoulders. She felt herself blush a deep shade of green.

She quickly shrugged it off, hoping he hadn't seen her expression. Though she could have sworn she saw him cast her a small grin. "It's a beautiful planet." He stated. She was careful to ignore him.

"The Tallest's ship, the Massive, should be orbiting around it at the moment." Dib glanced at her. "Are you going to do anything rash?" He asked suddenly.

Tak cast him a dark look. "Shut up." She grumbled, somewhat infuriated by his concern. Dib mumbled something and glanced at the corner. Then something odd happened. The Massive was in view, but something else was wrong.

The ship jerked. Tak flew backwards, swearing loudly.

"_Identify yourselves." _The voice of Red came through. Tak felt a quick rush of anger, but it quickly diminished. "Invader Tak." Her voice was surprisingly clear, despite the position she had just been in. A surprised gasp was audible, then some sort of muffling, and a quick, "It's Tak! What do I say?"

"WHAT? Isn't she dead?"

"You two are terrible at muffling…" Tak interjected, although she was pretty much ignored.

"I don't know how she survived!" Red muttered darkly. Tak was losing her patience. "We're coming over there!" She finally shouted. Her fist slammed down on the button that would sever the connection. She trembled. Dib slowly put a hand on her, but she slapped it away. She was crying.

Dib bit his lip. "… Tak…" He wasn't sure what to say at the moment. "They really did… They… They tried to…" She choked out the final words.

"_Kill me."_

The words had an extremely haunting air to them, and Tak wasn't sure why. She finally clenched her eyes shut and lifted her head, wiping the tears out of her purple eyes. Embarrassed, she glanced at Dib. "I… Err…"

Dib shook his head. "No, it's fine." He answered, glancing down. "Didn't you tell them you were going to go to their ship?" He asked, trying to sound somewhat helpful.

"Oh… Yes…" Tak seemed somewhat immune to what was going around her now. "I should…" Her hand pressed a button that's purpose was totally foreign to Dib.

It took around fifteen minutes before they were aboard the Massive. Tak and Dib slid around the ship, avoiding patrolling guards and other Irkens, trying to find the Tallest.

Tak finally peeked behind a corner into a room where they both sat lazily in easy chairs, eating chips.

"But, really, how could she find us if she's dead?"

**Tak is about to get so mad. XD I'm gonna try to cram in the next chapter tonight. No chapter tomorrow, sorry. TT I'ma be at my friend's. Although we'll update Trial and Error! **


	6. The Useless Defective

_**Useless. Defective. A Waste. **_

**Konban Wa!**

**First off, I'd just like to say THANK YOU! To all of my reviewers:**

**JoeMerl, IntelligenceIsStupid, JPElles, and Chicky.Licky. Thanks so much you guys! And, as promised, here is another chapter, since I won't be able to write tomorrow night. Hopefully these chapters are gradually getting longer. **

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: INVADER ZIM IS OWNED BY JHONEN VASQUEZ, WHO, UNFORTUNATELY, I AM NOT. IT'D BE COOL IF I WAS. REMIND ME WHY I'M TYPING IN CAPS.**

Tak whimpered slightly, and the Tallest looked forward, she darted behind the corner again. "… Did you hear that?" Purple asked, glancing at Red. "Yeah… I did!" Red said. Tak heard him stand up. She could feel Dib yanking on her hand, trying to pull her up and pull her away.

"Is anyone there?" Red called. Tak could tell he was coming closer, but she didn't care. She was curled up into a ball. Her curled antennae were flat against her head, trying to drown out the sounds as much as possible. She just couldn't bare to listen to it all anymore.

"Show yourself!" Red's voice was getting closer. "TAK!" Dib hissed. "We have to go!" Tak wouldn't move, even if she wanted to. She felt like she had just been stabbed through the heart. Whether she knew why or not…

She was useless.

She was a defective.

She was a waste.

Tears began to stream down her face as Red spotted her. His eyes slowly got wider. "Tak?" Tak didn't answer, but stood up. She was shaking. Everything was shaking. "I… I…" Red looked at her, and suddenly, he looked terrified. "You…" She whispered. "Why?"

She clenched her eyes shut, which was probably why she didn't see Red pull out the laser, and lift it in front of himself. "Tak…" He began slowly. His eyes looked like rubies, red as blood, cold, and hard. His voice portrayed no emotion. "I don't want to do this. I didn't want to do it in the first place. You were one of the best, Tak. It's too bad Zim had to ruin it for everyone."

Just as his finger was about to pull, Dib snatched the laser out of his hand, and jammed something that Tak couldn't see into Red's PAK. He fell almost immediately. "Don't worry, he's just fainted." He glanced briefly down at Red. Then his gaze turned to Purple, who was completely stunned. "Y-you j-just…" Dib rolled his eyes and did the same to him.

"D-Di-Dib-human…" Tak murmured, the tears were beginning to well up in her violet eyes once again. "… Don't worry about it." Dib stated, looking to the side. "Wh… Where did you get that?" She could easily tell it was the same device that the SIR unit had knocked her out with. "Stole it from Zim's lab." Dib answered easily.

That would explain it. Zim kept all sorts of stupid things… "Come on." Dib said. Tak's knees locked. "But…" She glanced down. "Were are we going to go?" She asked softly. Dib looked down. "I don't know," He admitted. "There has to be somewhere you can go…"

"There isn't." Tak murmured. "There's nowhere I could go… I'm… I'm useless…" She forced her eyes shut again, to keep herself from breaking into sobs. "I can't go anywhere…" Dib looked at her for a moment and sighed. "Oh… You're hopeless!" He had a reasonably more cheerful attitude, which Tak just didn't understand. "Come on…" He slowly came forward and grabbed her hand.

With that, Dib dragged her off the Massive, and back onto the ship, where she slept again. Even longer, this time. What she didn't realize, however, is that her head was resting on his shoulder as she slept.

**Aw. This chapter was both Kowaii and Kawaii… At the same time. :D It was also sort of angsty, which is awesome. ; To me, anyway. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this, humans. I'll see you all on Sunday! I might write again tonight, though… Just because I feel like it. **


	7. Plan B

_**Plan B**_

Dib woke to the loud bleeps of the ship. He opened one of his chocolate eyes to see Tak jamming several buttons with exaggerated frustration. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He glanced into the almost purple metal of the ship, and could see his glasses were crooked. Embarrassed, he adjusted them.

Tak didn't even bother to look at him. Finally, she sighed and sat back down. "We don't have any options. I think I should just take you back to-"

"No way." Dib said, a little infuriated by her arguing. "I'm going to stay."

"What's the point?" Tak straightened up. Now, she definitely seemed angry. Her purple eyes were huge, while her antennae were flat against her head. "Why are you putting yourself in danger? I think it's quite obvious that this is a life-or-death matter now!" She was beginning to shout, and Dib winced slightly.

"… Sorry. I'm just… She sighed quietly and sat down, letting her head fall backwards. "I'm just not sure what to believe anymore, Dib." He waited for the 'human' to come after it, but there was nothing. He raised an eyebrow for a moment, then decided to shrug it off.

There were several long moments of silence, where Dib felt awkward. "It's alright." He said. "But where are we going next?" He asked, glancing at her. "I have absolutely no idea." Tak admitted without a single hesitation. "We… Might… Go to Devastis." Dib glanced at her.

"The military planet? Why?" Tak looked down. "I… I'm not quite sure… But…"

Dib stared at her. "But what?" He probed. He didn't realize he was leaning forward for a while. When he did, he immediately straightened. Tak sucked in one of her cheeks, and put a hand to her head. "I've lost all my pride." She sighed, then slowly massaged her temples. Dib felt a quick stab of sympathy, then shook his head.

_No. _He told himself simply. _No. _He repeated. "Why do you say that?" He asked, glancing down slightly. "I…" Tak sighed, then leaned forward and whispered it. Dib paled slightly. "You're kidding me."

Tak shook her head. "It's our only option…" She trailed off, and looked out the front window of the ships, at the stars. They hadn't moved since the little incident on the Massive. Aside from moving away from that ship, of course. "Tak," Dib began after several moments. "Yes, human?"

"You don't have to do this." Tak nodded. "Yes, I do. " Glancing down at the main screen, she set it for Devastis. When the ship began to move, she leaned back with a sigh.

Tak rolled over. "It's best you get rest, Dib-human. We don't know when our next chance may be." Dib nodded, facing the other side so they weren't looking at each other. Tak shut her eyes and sighed. "Oh Irk, I can't believe I'm doing this." Dib chuckled. She almost glared. Then there was silence. Tak sighed and sat up. It was clear Dib was asleep. Not a huge surprise there.

Sighing, she hit a button on it. A large, holographic map of the universe came up. She hit a seconds button. Several locations popped up in bright yellow, all on various planets. Sure enough, there was one on Devastis. She sighed in relief. She hadn't been one hundred percent that there was a branch on the Military planet.

All the yellow markings were the locations of branches of the Resisty.


	8. You Owe Me Three Monies

_**You Owe Me Three Monies**_

Tak woke hearing a loud beep. She blinked in surprise and sat up.

"**Damage repaired." **The voice was definitely computerized. She looked around, seeing Dib was still asleep. It was several moments before she realized it was her PAK.

"**Repair time: One week, two days, twelve hours, six minutes, and 48 seconds." **

_Huh? _Was the last thing she thought before she completely blacked out.

_**Flashback…**_

"_**Hahaha! I toooold you Red and Purple would be the new Tallests!" Zim stuck his tongue out at Tak. They were barely more than smeets. "I never said they weren't going to…" Tak said quietly. She was oddly caught up in awe. "You owe me three monies." Zim held out a gloved hand.**_

_**Tak was silent for a moment, before dropping the change into his hand. Zim chuckled, then stuffed it into his pocket. Tak glanced up at Irk's orange sky in silence. Both of the suns were setting. One in the east, and one in the west. It was… Oddly mystifying. Especially the way they would rise and meet right in the middle of the sky during noon…**_

_**Tak nodded off. Before she realized it, the ceremony was over. "Come on, Tak." Zim shoved her abruptly, almost knocking her backwards. "We have to get back to Devastis, now." Tak nodded blankly. She was still surprised by Zim's sudden move. "Okay…" She wasn't sure why she was dazed.**_

"_Tak! Tak! Answer me, Tak!" _A rough shaking on her shoulders.

_**Flashback…**_

_**Zim gave her one of his signature obnoxious grins. "Nothing scares Zim!" He yelped, pointing upward, toward the sky. "We'll find that out really soon, Zimmy." Tak said, smirking. Skoodge's laser shot off, and they both tackled each other, yanking at antennae, while actually laughing at the same time.**_

"_TAK! What's wrong with you?!" _It was more violent this time, and the voice was louder… More… Frustrated, somehow.

_**Flashback…**_

_**Everything went dark. Tak guessed the power had gone out. When she tried to open the door, it wouldn't open. "Oh no."**_

"_Tak, what's wrong with you!?" _The voice shouted. _"A lot of things…" _She murmured.

_**Flashback…**_

"_**I SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN INVADER! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN PART OF THE GREAT ASSIGNING! I DIDN'T HAVE TO BE STEALING THIS PLANET FROM YOU!" Laser. Pain. Failure. Anger… Revenge. **_

Tak cracked an eye open. She wasn't sure where she was at first. Then she remembered it was the ship. She shoved herself up, then looked at Dib, in all his big-headed glory. His scythe had a slight kink in the end, a sign that he was going to look like his father. The shirt he wore under the trench coat was white, although letters in bold black print read:

A

R

E

A

51

She sighed quietly. "What just happened?" She asked softly. "I think your PAK was working on restoring the rest of your memory." Tak nodded. Understandable. But… Why had they all been about… Zim? She shuddered at the memory of him.

The Dib-human had said he had disappeared. She silently hoped he was dead. "Let me see something…" He got behind her, and began to fiddle with her PAK. "Most of it's back, it looks like… Just a little's missing." He didn't say anything else.

Several minutes of silence passed. With a sigh, Tak decided to check how much longer it was going to take. "We have an hour, Dib-human." She announced. "I'm going to get something." She slowly climbed into the back, and returned with a micro-chip looking device. Before Dib could protest, she clipped it onto the back of his shirt.

Dib saw his reflection in the purple-ish metal. He looked exactly like an Irken. Perfectly, actually. He had long antennae that bent back right at the end. He had huge, pupil-less, and white-less eyes that were a soft red-maroon.

Surprised, he stumbled backward. Tak chuckled. The lights flickered off suddenly. Her eyes widened, and she looked out the window.

"That's… That's the Vort ship!"

**Err… Sorry about this chapter. Sigh It was bad. Headdesk I'll start on the next chapter… It'll be way better. Again, I'm really sorry you guys.**


	9. Snacks?

_**Snacks?**_

The way that the whole 'battle' on the small ship had worked out… Yeah. There wasn't much to say as far as that went… It was pretty much…

1. Grab Dib and Tak

2. Take them on the Resisty ship

3. Take the Voot into the loading dock

… That was about it. And that's how Tak now found herself on the ship. "I need to speak to Lard Nar!" She demanded, stomping one of her steel-toed boots on the ground. The other alien resembled a cockroach. "That's where we take you." His voice sounded quite… Stupid. It took away from his somewhat intelligent look.

Tak barely knew what was going on. Dib was staring at her like she was insane. Before she could make sense of anything, the cockroach-like creature turned to look at her when they reached a door and flourished slightly. Then he walked off. Just like that. "Wow," Tak muttered under her breath. "I think I might be going insane." She muttered, glancing behind her. She could see the cockroach-dude peering behind a corner. Of course. They wouldn't leave them alone. If they did, they were idiots.

Taking in a breath, Tak was about to open the door, when it opened before her, with a loud, screeching noise that made her flinch. There were several things she did not expect. She didn't expect to see Lard Nar standing right in front of the door, grinning. No, I'm not kidding. He was smiling.

The next thing she didn't expect. Zim was sitting there. Again, not kidding. Invader Zim was sitting at the table, all six of his fingers neatly laced together. He glanced at Tak, and his eyes widened. "Tak?"

"Zim?" Both Dib and Tak asked. She was actually pretty irritated at the moment. "What are _you _doing here?" Tak sneered, crossing her arms. Zim stood up, and they immediately started fighting. Zim tackled Tak, and they began to tug violently at each others antennae, yelling insults at each other in Irken. Dib glanced at Lard Nar, who's jaw was dropped.

"Let them fight." Dib said with a sigh. Lard Nar glanced at him. "Who are you?" He asked, sighing and deciding to let them rip each other apart. "My name's Dib."

"Ah… You're against the Tallest' decision?"

"… What decision? I'm just here with Tak."

Lard Nar stared at him. "Oh. You mean the one about the Invaders?" The Vortian nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Yes." Zim and Tak were winding down now, as if the two of them were exhausted. They finally sat down, panting. The next thing they said… Well… Let's say it was just… Different.

"Does anyone have any snacks?"

Dib slapped his palm to his face. Tak looked at him. "Whaaaat?" She grumbled. Then she looked at Lard Nar. "Shouldn't you be, like, irritated with the Irkens right now?" She asked. Lard Nar looked at him, then raised an eyebrow. "Why should I be, now? The Invaders aren't useful to those power-hungry idiots anymore." Tak stopped and looked at him. "Don't say that."

Lard Nar looked at her for a moment, evidently confused. "But didn't they-"

"Betray me? Yes." She shut her eyes for a moment, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh. "They did… But I can't let you talk about them that way. When I'm around, anyway."

"It's your PAK." Zim interjected. "It's telling you to-"

"Are you to holding a civil conversation?" Dib asked. Zim froze. His antennae perked up. "I know that voice…" Then he gasped dramatically. "It's… It's… It's the Dib! He pretended to faint, slowly sinking to the floor. Lard Nar snorted and rolled his eyes beneath his goggles. "Come with me, you two." He began. "I highly doubt you're dangerous… We just have to make sure." He stated. Tak nodded grimly. "I understand."

She sighed, then everything suddenly came back, hitting her with a wave of anger. It was Zim's fault she had failed in the first place. He just stood there- Looking like an idiot. Tak involuntarily placed one of her gloved hands on the laser in her belt, then quickly shook her head, yanking her hand off it.

_What are you doing?_


	10. Roommates

_**Roommates**_

**Hi, everyone. I recently updated my writing software. I was using WordPad up until now. Now I'm using OpenOffice. HOOOORRAAAYY!! EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!! I HAVE SPELL CHECK!! WOO HOO!! TAQUITOS!! Okay. I'm done now. Has anyone heard of that drug- Burandanga? Check it out, and never accept a card from a stranger. Yes, a business card. Or paper, for that matter. As a matter of fact don't accept anything from strangers... Unless you're suicidal... And Maize belongs to Rankaera, this is just a cameo from her story, Accidentally on Purpose. I used her with permission.**

**Now that we're past all this corporate junk, I bet you wanna read the chapter now, huh? Do you? DO YOU? DO YOU!? HUH, PUNK?! YOU WANNA READ THE CHAPTER?! Okay... I'll... Calm down now. XD**

"So... Why are you here?"

"No idea. I must be going insane." Tak said sarcastically. "Please be serious..." Lard Nar muttered. "But it's true. I don't know why the Tallest decided to do this." Lard Nar looked at the screen, at the various Vortian letters scrolling across it. "Alright... So maybe that's true..." He had this strange habit of talking to himself, he did.

"How long have you been..." He stopped suddenly, obviously looking for a way to word it. "Exiled? I have no idea. Around... A week or two."

"Okay..." Lard Nar looked at the screen once again. "I think that's it." He said. "Let me just enter you into the system. Then I'll call Maize... She'll show you the way... And I'll ask Shloonktapooxis to bring the human in." Lard Nar had long since taken the microchip-like device off of Dib, which he hadn't appreciated- He had apparently enjoyed looking Irken. Tak had no idea _why _but she figured it was better just not to ask.

"His name is Dib..." Tak corrected slowly. Lard Nar nodded. "Bring Dib in." He said to a microphone on his shirt. "Tak is clear." It felt... A little odd, hearing someone other than Zim or a human say her name without the 'Invader' in front of it. She began to walk out, and right as Dib walked in, she gave him a friendly wink. His brown eyes widened, and his cheeks visibly turned a bright red.

Tak had no idea what this meant, so she kept looking behind her, and nearly bumped into... Apparently who was called Maize. She looked... Semi-Irken. It was almost impossible to decipher her gender, for her antennae were completely thrown out of whack, branching in different directions, and bending awkwardly. The only way you could tell she was a girl was from her feminine curves. Her eyes were clearly Irken, although they were a bright, golden yellow. Yes, you heard me right. Golden yellow.

One thing that could decipher that she was part human was the tuft of ebony hair on the top of her head. Her PAK, rather than the usual maroon, had three, large, orange spots. It made Tak nearly jump out of that green skin of hers. "You're Tak, right?" Maize asked. Tak nodded blankly. Trying not to stare did not help...

Maize giggled. She was definitely younger than she looked... "Caught you looking!" She said, her voice was sing-song. Tak started. She giggled again. "Don't worry about it, everyone does that. I'm a teeeeeensy bit human." Tak was bewildered, but decided not to ask. "Lemme see your card." Maize began. She reached forward and looked at the card Lard Nar had pinned to her shirt earlier, containing information such as her race, home planet, status, and name. There was a picture of her next to it.

"Wow. Just like Nar to put you two together."

"What?"

"You're sharing a dorm with Zim."

**WOO HOO! This fanfiction has survived ten chapters... Sniffle I'm... SO HAPPY! Sobs on random person's shoulder**

**Zim: Oh. Sorry. Removes emotional probe**

**Me: TT Well, anyway, I've also reached twenty reviews. I also noticed that I had 13 reviews on the 7th chapter... Hehehe... MEEP!**

* * *


	11. Oops

**_Oops. _**

**Heelllooo... I know Maize was a teeny bit more than a cameo in the last chapter, but forget it. That was her only appearance. Yessssss... MEOW!**

**... Wow. I'm really bored. That might be why I update so much... WHO WANTS CHEESE DONUGHTS?! o.0 I'm done now. Well, I have no idea how long it'll take to get to some real action now... This chapter might just be something I'll use to drag it out a little... I'm not really sure. I do have a lot of action planned... Especially the character d- Well, never mind. You'll find that on your own. ;) And I wanted to quickly address the whole 'roommate' thingy in the last chapter... Keep in mind, Irkens... Don't have reproduction organs, so... There's really nothing wrong with it. Really, the only difference between male and female Irkens are the antennae and appearance. (As far as things like curves go.) Oh, and also, I made a mistake. Tak doesn't have a Voot Runner, she has a Spittle Runner... Sorry. XD I didn't pay a lot of attention to it, I guess... MOO! There's also a cameo for my bus number in here... xD xD xD I was gonna do my locker combo, but I figured that would be kind of dangerous since I have some people I know in real life reading this. Hehehe... I SHALL EAT HEADS! **

**... And now I shall disappear in a puff of smoke! **

Tak sighed. She wasn't sure how they had convinced her to be roommates with Zim, but they somehow had. You had to give these Resisty people credit... These beds were uncomfortable! She was surprised to find Zim was already gone... Well... Somewhat.

It had been around four days... Earth time. Although Tak was utterly disgusted with Zim, there wasn't much to do about it. During this time... Maybe... If she could call it that... They had become... What a human would call _friends. _She jumped down. And almost fell forward.

Ow.

Swearing, she looked behind her to see GIR curled up, for some reason still in his dog suit. Tak smiled faintly, then quickly got up, suddenly irritated again. The malfunctioning SIR unit hadn't moved at all. She was glad- It meant he hadn't seen her smile.

She slowly got to her feet and dusted herself off. She was no longer wearing an Invader uniform, but a Resisty uniform. She still had her Invader's clothes, but no longer wore them, mostly because they were still stained with green blood.

Tak decided she wouldn't yell at GIR... Today, anyway. He looked too cute sleeping like that. Wait, what? With a sigh, she grabbed her card/name tag thingy, (Let's call it a Card tag.) She examined the bar code for a short moment, out of sheer boredom, before pinning it to her shirt.

She jammed in the combination, 04-17, and the mechanical door leading out of the cabin opened.

From here, almost everything was a silvery color. It was a circular room, which had a large window, out of which you could look at the stars. There were several cabins on this wing, although this was only one of the few rooms there were. She walked slowly, her boots were beating loudly against the metallic floor. Once she reached the elevator, she scanned the barcode on her Card tag and waited. This was the only elevator on the wing. Sometimes it would take around thirty minutes for it to finally get there.

Tak was in luck this time. It had arrived quicker than usual. Not taking any account into who might be in there at the time, she dashed in, tripped, and fell right on top of Dib.

He had been knocked down, and Tak's hands were spread out at the sides of his head, which seemed a little bit smaller than when he was eleven. They're faces were barely even an inch apart. Tak's cheeks turned a deep, dark green, and she tried desperately not to accidentally slip. Too late.

Tak's hands quickly seemed to slip out from under her, and she fell. Their lips brushed for a short moment, and Tak felt a wave of embarrassment crash over her. There really wasn't much she could do about it at the moment, though... Because... In a very, very strange way... She found this pleasant.

She couldn't explain how or why it was a nice feeling to her... It... Just... Was! Part of her was screaming to jump up and say, "Oh, sorry, gotta go!" Then dash away. The other part... Was telling her to stay. She could feel her heart going faster and faster, as if it was about to burst out of her chest. She felt like screaming... Either in agony or joy.

Too fast. Too soon. Too early. It ended. She shoved herself up off him. He looked totally paralyzed as he stood up, too. His eyes looked wider than normal, even _with _the glasses. The elevator had long since gone. They stared at each other, for a long, unblinking time. Tak suddenly felt something caught in her throat. It was becoming harder for her to breath... Then, with his cheeks a bright red, and his chocolate eyes huge, he dashed off at full speed, leaving Tak dazed and confused.


	12. Malfunction

_**Malfunction**_

**Thank you for the criticism and advice, everyone. I swear, I really appreciate it. I'll try to start making these chapters longer from now on, but regardless, they're not going to suddenly be like, twelve pages. So... Please don't eat my head. No... Please! DON'T EAT IT!! Cowers under table**

**And, has anyone heard of Freerice? It's a site where, you answer questions, and for every question you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice. It's really cool, and a great way to end hunger. XD I sat in school doing the English thing and donated like, 5,000 grains of rice in like, 30 minutes.**

**Okay... I'm done now...**

_How long has it been...? _Tak wondered mildly in unconsciousness. _How long since...? _She jumped slightly when she nearly ran into someone. "Oh. Sorry." At first, she thought she was looking into a mirror. Then she realized the figure in front of her was pale and translucent.

"Who are you?" She demanded. The spirit's grin sent heavy shivers down her spine.

"I'm you."

Tak bolted upright, gasping loudly. She sighed, breathing heavily for several moments. "Dream. Good. Nice. Pleasant." She relaxed. Then she relaxed, falling backward again. She couldn't sleep. With a sigh, she got up. Zim was still asleep. Lazy.

Leaving, she had to make sure the doors wouldn't wake him up. The last time she had woken him up, well... He had gone a little insane. She had been careful to take the laser away from his bed...

"HIYA, TAKKY!"

Well. That was pleasant. "Sssh... GIR, your master is sleeping."

"OOOOH! Masta sleepin'!"

"It means _be quiet._"

"Oh. Okay." GIR said, beginning to whisper. It sounded a little odd, but GIR reminded her a little of MiMi. A little. MiMi wasn't insane. Or... Hadn't been. The SIR had long ago self-destructed. It made her a little sad to think of that, but it MiMi had been a robot, nonetheless. She opened the door and walked out slowly.

The malfunctioning SIR followed her. She decided not to argue with him. He could come if he liked. GIR skipped happily at her side, singing something he called "The Doom Song."

"_Doom doom doom doom_

_Doom..._

_Doom doom doom!_

_Dooooom!" _

"Uh, GIR?"

The robot held out a hand.

"_Doomdoomdoomtheend!"_

Tak gave him a blank stare, then decided she'd rather not ask. She stopped dead when she saw Dib looking out the large window.

"HI, DIBBERS!!" GIR suddenly shouted. Tak gasped and dashed, hopefully, out of his sight. "GIR? What are you...?" Without warning, GIR clung to Dib's leg, and randomly began to sing again.

"_DOOM DOOM DOOOOOOM!!"_

Tak made the mistake of slapping her hand to her face. He looked down at her, and Tak flushed, getting up immediately. It was completely awkward, both of them silent and looking down. "I, uh..." Tak began slowly. "Sorry... About... Yesterday... You know... I..."

Dib held up a hand. "It's fine. I... Uhm... It's my fault..." Tak silently wished he would kiss her again. It was a strange feeling. She didn't want to... And yet... She did... Badly. She didn't dare tell him. She pursed her lips.

"It's... Not... Your... Fault." Her squeedily spooch tightened. "I..." She choked.

"**Necessary Data overlooked."**

Her antennae went up.

"**Searching RT-Drive."**

"Oh no."

"**Malfunction! System infiltrated."**

Vision blurring. Numbness.

"**Scanning for viruses..."**

Tak quickly felt herself getting weaker.

"**One found.**

**Status: Deadly**

**Repairs: Necessity."**

"... Help..." She fell forward, clutching his shoulders.

"**Shutting down for repairs."**

Everything went black.

**Hopefully this might be a little longer. Yes, I like blackouts, but you also have to keep in mind Tak's PAK (Hey! I never noticed that before... xD That's fun to say!) has some major damage. Might do another chapter. Yes, I know, I have no life.**

**PS- Samarin, if you're reading this...**

**HI!**

**xD Okay. Now I'm done.**


	13. How Can I Trust You?

_**How Can I Trust You?**_

**Wow. My dad is being weird. No, I mean really weird. He randomly comes up to me and goes, "Why are most of your friends guys?" Geez, dude... I'm in Middle School! I'm not gonna go off and... Ah, forget it... I'm writing this chapter for a Science Project. The project is to see if what you eat before you go to sleep affects your dreams. I usually have clearer dreams if I write before going to bed, so... Yeah.**

**P.S. One of the BEST bands ever is Nightmare. They're Japanese, but listen to Shian. It's AMAZING! I listened to it while writing this whole chapter. **

Pain. Intense pain. She could feel it flooding through her, sending surges of hurt through her. Everywhere. Everything.

"... It hurts." She whispered. There was a long silence, then a quiet, "I know." She opened her eyes only slightly to see Dib. He smiled faintly. "Zim's fixing your PAK." He said. "Don't move." Tak almost jumped, then the pain shot through her again, and she curled up. She could feel Dib gently stroking her cheek.

"It's done." Tak heard. It could have been seconds, minutes, or hours. She couldn't tell. Time was passing both slowly, and quickly.

"How much did you have to remove?"

"Almost everything but the life support system."

"Nothing else?"

"That's it. Everything else was infected by the virus. We're lucky she isn't dead. She should be."

"So she'll be okay?"

"Probably."

A loud sigh of relief. "I can stay here, right?"

"If you want to."

"Alright. Thanks."

A door slamming. Then silence. Again, it could have lasted for hours. Or minutes. She wasn't sure, before she heard Lard Nar's voice.

"She alright?"

"Yeah, she's just unconscious right now. Zim says she'll be fine."

"That's good. When she wakes up, could you send her to me? I think I have an idea."

"Why? She'll probably need to rest..."

"Send her to me when she's strong enough, then. I don't care." Then the door shut again. When she was finally numb again, Tak opened both her violet eyes. "Are you still here?" Tak whispered.

"Yes. I'm here."

"... Stay. Please... Promise me..."

"I promise." His voice answered back. With that, she fell unconscious again.

"Weak." The ghoulish mirror-image was back. Tak saw it better this time. It was pale and translucent, with more of a haunting aura about it. Other than that, it looked exactly like her. "Who's weak?"

"We are." The spirit grinned devilishly. "Don't you wish you were more powerful?" It asked suddenly. "Don't you want... Revenge?" It smiled and put a finger under her chin.

"Who are you, really?"

"I told you before. I'm you."

"No, you're not. I'm me. Not you."

"Fine. If you want to get technical, I'm your PAK."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm your PAK's spirit. You know that defect just altered us. You've lost all your built-in weaponry. We're defenseless." It grinned that devilish grin once again. Tak shivered.

"Why should I listen to you?" She asked.

"Why, you don't trust me?"

"Not really."

Taken aback, the spirit stared, dumbfounded at her.

"Now that's just sad..." It whimpered. It was despicable.

"What's sad? I trust myself. Just not you." Tak growled.

It whimpered again.

"Leave me alone." She growled. It snickered. "Oh, no. I can't do that."

"_WHY NOT?" _Tak hissed loudly.

She bolted upright. She could see Dib staring at her like she was insane. "Oh... Nightmare." She said, sighing. "Do you feel alright?" Dib asked, sighing. He just couldn't stay out of someone else's business, could he?

"Yeah, I'm fine." She sighed and laid back for a moment. "Lard Nar wanted me." She said once she sat up. "I'd better..." She swung her legs over the side. Her knees wobbled, although she doodoodoohappyplace managed to stay up.

Dib flinched. "Oh... And... About the other day..."

Tak grimaced. Did he really have to bring it up? "Uh... I didn't... Uhm... Have a problem... With it... You know..." He obviously wasn't sure how to word it so he wouldn't sound perverted. "It's fine." Tak took a test step forward, making sure she could walk. When she found she could, she smiled in triumph and walked across the room.

"Where's 'Nar?"

"Just outside."

"Oh. Thanks."

She opened the door to find Lard Nar standing there, looking as patient as ever. "How are you?" He asked in a voice that actually got on her nerves a little bit... It was full of sympathy. She hated sympathy. "I had an idea." Lard Nar began.

"Yes?"

"Are you willing to be a decoy?"

"... That depends."

"Well... See... We think the Tallest are planning something bigger than Impending Doom, but we don't know what yet."

"Okay?"

"That's why they gave up on the Invaders."

"... So...?"

"We need a decoy while we find some information on this."

"..."

"Could you pretend to be a ghost?"

**XD XD XD The pretend to be a ghost idea came from my friend Ranekaera. It was originally more of a joke, but whatever. I need a name for the ghosty-thing. Suggestions are greatly appreciated! :D Okay guys. I have to get some sleep. It's 11:36. Okay.**

**PS - I think this chapter gives me 10,000 words... Yay! LET'S DANCE!**

**G'night! **


	14. Boo?

_**Boo?**_

**YESSSS! I'm SO happy right now... I CONVINCED MY DAD TO BUY ME BRISINGR! (The new Eragon book) YESS!! I'm reading it as I write this. And I think I figured out the ghosty-person's name. I was going to go with Kat, (Kudos to Ranekaera.) But then I thought of something. It hit me during Math class. Snare! Don't ask me why, but it seems like a good name for her. o.0 I wanted it to have a similarity to Tak's name, but forget it. XD Snare's gonna be important. Maybe more than you realize... MWAHAHAHA!!**

**And you know what? I found a theme song for Snare and Tak. It's by one of the best bands ever...(Aside from Nightmare.) Three Days Grace! "The Animal I Have Become" would probably work best. Mwahaha. LOOK IT UP!**

**Meow meow!**

"You have _got _to be kidding me."

"I'm not, Tak."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The Resisty needs you."

For a moment, Tak felt a rush of anger. She felt like snapping back some sort of smart-aleck retort. Then, changed her mind and said, "Why not pick Zim?"

"Because they don't think he's dead." His eyes, though covered by goggles, were visibly darkening. "So what should I do? Walk over there and say 'Boo?'" Tak asked him sarcastically. Lard Nar gave her a dull look, as if he found no humor in her tone. "This is serious." He said, his voice suddenly harsh.

"Okay! Okay!" Tak held up both of her three-fingered, claw-like hands. Then it hit her of what ghosts reminded her of. That... That... Thing. She shivered, though not from the cold. Lard Nar obviously thought he had accidentally weakened her.

"Oh! Are you alright?"

"Oh... Yeah... Fine... Just thinking... About something."

He looked at her, but didn't comment, much to her delight. She sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was someone commenting or asking. "So... Let's say I agreed to do this... Decoy thing. What would I have to do?" Tak crossed her arms, as if immediately reminded of her rough nature.

"Just distract them. Not much, really... They wouldn't fire a laser at a ghost..." Tak swallowed as he spoke. He apparently heard it. "Oh... Don't worry... That's a reason to do it!" He said quickly, obviously trying to cover up the mistake he had just made. Tak nodded. "I know... Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe I'm really doing this... But... Fine." They shook on it.

x

Dib was surprised when Tak came in so soon. "What'd 'Nar want you for?" He asked, slowly raising a finger. "He wants me to pretend to be a ghost." Tak muttered darkly. "... Why?"

"We need a decoy, apparently." There was an poisonous tone to her voice that made shivers go down Dib's spine.

Zim came back in there. "Is the demon okay now?" He asked. Tak could tell he was joking, but it still sent an angry surge through her. She walked up to him and shoved him backwards angrily. "Shut up!" She yelled, much louder than intended. She felt unshed tears welling up in her eyes. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"

He was obviously taken aback. Tak pursed her lips, taking a step back. Even she was surprised by the sudden outburst. "I... Sorry... I..."

Zim shrugged. "As long as you don't take my robot bee."

The three of them all exchanged glances, then laughed.

**I have some sad news. A close friend of mine, Gybe, is a yaoi fangirl! . Oh, and her little brother's name is Tack. XD I laughed when I first learned that. I was like, "T-a-k?" Then I was like, "Dangit..." Haha. Well, see you guys next chapter.**


	15. Don't Do Anything Stupid

_**Don't Do Anything Stupid**_

**Huh. I have no idea why the last chapter turned out so short. o.0 I was typing for a while, too... **

**Oh well. Sigh... This one'll be longer! Promise! Now, less notes, more typing! **

**PS – Using Maize again here. She's so kawaii.**

She looked ridiculous. Maize had insisted on completely covering her in white powder, supposedly to make her look whiter. Tak figured Maize just enjoyed powder. Or something. She had also insisted on giving her a white robe to wear, which looked even stupider. It had strips of cloth hanging off the wide sleeves, and the bottom of it was ripped in several places. It completely covered her feet.

Tak grudgingly endured it, no matter how ticked off she was. "Finally! You're done!" Maize suddenly squealed. Tak flinched. _Let's see how stupid I look..._

Slowly, she walked in front of the mirror, and found she didn't look as terrible as she thought. Maybe... They would believe she was a ghost. Maize had also done a good job of making sure the robe went over the PAK, although it didn't look like she has a large lump on her back.

"Not bad..." Tak admitted. Maize nodded. "Okay, I have to go get ready with the others. Lard Nar is waiting outside." She nodded, then left. Tak stood there for a moment, looking at herself. It surprised her how much had happened in the past few days. Then she felt a sudden rush jab at her.

_Hehe. We look quite similar now, don'tcha think? _Tak's blood ran cold. She looked in the mirror. It had it's clawed, three-fingered hand on it's shoulder. It was grinning terrifyingly again. It put a hand over her mouth. _Now, don't scream. _It continued to smile, then took it's hand off once again.

"Who are you?" Tak half whispered, half hissed. It snickered. _My name is Snare. Proud to be of your service. Buuut... Then again... I'm still you. _

"Why are you doing this?"

_Don't you want revenge against those idiots? They made a terrible mistake in trying to kill you, Tak. I'm just here to heeeelp. _Snare's voice was becoming snakelike. She smiled in a creepy way, and she appeared to have fangs... Tak was becoming more and more terrified with every passing second.

_I see you're scared, Tak. _Snare smiled again. Tak felt her squeedily spooch do flips. _Don't be._

"... Leave me alone... Please..." Tak bit her lip. "I am getting revenge against the Tallest... Right now... We can... We can talk later.."

_Alright then... _Snare faded.

x

"What's wrong, Tak? You look like you've just seen a- Well..." Lard Nar chuckled. Tak didn't respond. "Wow. Maize did a good job." He said hopefully. "Oh. Thanks. Uh, when are we leaving?"

"In a few minutes. You'll have to take your Spittle Runner. The rest of us are taking Sils."

"Oh. Okay." Tak nodded blankly. She knew what those were. They were small Vortian ships.

"You might as well go down below and get you're ship." He said, obviously a little infuriated now.

"Sure." Tak said, nodding almost emotionlessly.

Once she was down there, she was surprised to see how completely crowded the dock was. Different aliens ran from ship to ship, and Tak just stood there, looking for the only Irken ship among the mix.

When she finally spotted it, she sighed as she realized that the Irken symbol had been painted over. She pursed her lips in annoyance. She had designed that herself, too! With a sigh, she decided she couldn't do anything about it, and put a foot up to climb in.

"Wait! Tak!" She glanced behind her, to see Dib running after her. "Tak..." He panted. The next part, she thought she might faint. He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her.

She hoped it would last forever. An involuntary warmth spread throughout her, and she completely relaxed. She tried not to cry. Tears welled up in her eyes anyway. She felt his grip tighten around her.

What may have been a few seconds felt like hours. Finally, when they parted, she was trying not to break into heavy sobs.

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?" He said quietly to her. She nodded, then let her head rest against his chest. She stayed there, listening to the pounding of his heart, while his chin rested on the top of her head in silence.

"I... I have to go now." Tak felt like her knees were about to give out. Dib nodded softly, then released her. Just like that, like a ghost, he disappeared.

Tak tried not to trip as she plopped down into the cockpit of the Spittle and waited for a signal to go. Her mind thought long and hard about what had just happened. Her head fell back against the chair. _Am I in love? _She asked herself. She knew Zim had altered her PAK, had he taken out the chip that decided her personality, to only obey the Tallest? To not have these emotions? She shut her eyes.

"Tak, you need to go now. You're heading out before the rest of us." Tak opened her eyes to see a cone-like alien talking to her. She suddenly remembered his name. Shlo... Shloon... Shloonktapooxis? Yeah. That was it. "Okay." She straightened up, clearing her mind and focusing on the task ahead. "The Massive's coordinates are exactly 346,6.6." Shloonktapooxis said. "Got it." Tak punched in the coordinates quickly with one of her three-fingered hands. Maize had replaced the black gloves with white gloves. Figures. Shloonktapooxis nodded, giving her the thumbs-up to close the front window. She did so, shutting her eyes and leaning back while she waited.

The ship was moving now. She looked out the window at the stars. They were glistening beautifully, like sharp, glittering shards of ice. Her mind fluttered back to Dib for a moment, but she shoved it to the back of her mind. _No. I'm not going to think about him. _She thought. _No, no, no... Think about the mission, Tak... The mission! _

She nodded. Right. Focus. Don't think about Dib. Don't think about Dib. Okay, how was this helping?! Telling herself to not think about him was thinking about him! She shook her head immediately. The Massive was getting close.

She took in a breath, then exhaled.

"It's show time."

**We are nowhere near the end. XD In case you were worrying. No. Not even CLOSE! Bwahaha. Oh, and write when I was doing that fluffity fluff fluff scene, "In the Arms of the Angels" came on. That's part of the reason I was so in the 'Zone.' I've gotta read my friend's book real quick, then I'll write the next chapter. Okay? Alright. See you guys in a few!**


	16. Help Wanted!

_**Showtime**_

**Hey, everyone! Well, I'm totally addicted to my own fan fic now. .; Disturbing. Sorry about last night. My computer was being a meaniehead. Now, this is gonna sound stupid, but I can't stand not knowing what happens in my own fan fiction. O.o**

**Well... ONWARD!! **

Tak slowly walked forward, careful to be light on her feet. Lard Nar had put a microphone inside her ship, and she had clipped it onto her shirt. It had been to give the signal.

She was pretty glad she didn't wear her boots. She would have been clunking around like an idiot. Finally, she could hear the voices of her Tallest. She took in a breath. From now on, she'd have to control her breathing. She took in a second breath, then took a silent step around the corner.

The didn't look much different from when she had last seen them. They were sitting in easy chairs yet again, eating doughnuts and drinking sodas.

Purple looked up. The doughnut fell right out of his hand. "R-r-red..." He slowly raised one of his fingers and pointed shakily at Tak, who now felt more ridiculous but more powerful than ever. She smiled inwardly.

Red paled. His eyes grew huge. Tak lifted her chin, and tried to give her eyes an angry look. "You two..." She hissed. "Ta... TAK!" Red and Purple both stood up. Tak let a laugh escape her. She tried to leer as she did so. "You two. You made a huge mistake! You've forced yourselves into a life of torture!" Tak began to laugh again. She was surprised by how differently it sounded, but didn't question.

"You've brought this upon yourselves! Now, I shall haunt you for the rest of your lives!" She laughed again, then realized the words were not her own. "Now..." Tak smiled demoniacally. Red and Purple both looked ready to faint.

"We... We're sorry!" Purple finally yelped loudly, getting on his knees and begging her. Tak was startled, and her expression faltered for a moment. Red looked at him and jabbed him sharply in the side. "Ow..." He muttered, then stood up.

Tak snickered, turning her head to the side and lifting her chin. "Did you think I'd give up that easily? Did you think I would just _die_?" She was hissing now. "Did you honestly think you could beat me? Did you think I would let you not suffer?" Her hand flew behind her, touching the PAK under her clothes.

_No! No! STOP! _Tak thought desperately. She yanked her hand away, then walked to Red, trying to look as much like a ghost would as possible. She stopped in front of him and looked up. He looked terrified. Tak smirked. "Tell me..." She said, lifting her chin to make sure the eye contact was consistent. "Tell me why you decided to kill me." She hissed.

Before Red could answer, the entire ship trembled, and alarms were set off, blaring loudly and making Tak's antennae going back against her head. "My Tallest, The Resisty-" One of the Pilot Irkens dashed in, stopping when she saw Tak.

"TAK!" Zim barreled into the pilot. "Tak! Found out! Come on!" He yelled loudly. "ZIM?" Red and Purple looked at each other in the midst of the confusion. Zim gave them a brief look, but didn't answer before snatching Tak's hand and rushing them out.

"What are you DOING? I almost had answers!" Tak yelled, glaring daggers at Zim while they ran, Tak nearly tripping over the overly long dress-robe thing Maize had forced onto her.

She felt something pushed into her hand. She looked beside her to see one of Snare's gray eyes winking, then disappear. Something was definitely up.

The only question was... What?

x

Tak spread the sheet of paper Snare had handed her out on the table. "They look like... Blueprints." She said, glancing at Lard Nar. "But... These make no sense..." She muttered.

"What do you mean?" Lard Nar inquired, looking over her shoulder.

"I mean... It's like they're planning something... Something... Huge... I just don't understand these blueprints. They aren't in Irken."

Lard Nar glanced over her shoulder again. "They're Vortian." He said, picking them up slowly. Then he looked disgusted, scoffing and slamming them down, while crossing his arms and snorting angrily. Tak blinked. "What?"

"Those were made by Prisoner number 777. I don't want anything to do with those! They were made by the forced labor of a Vortian!"

Tak gave him a dull look. "Please, 'Nar, I need you to be more mature than that. You're the only person that can translate this for me."

"No!" Lard Nar argued. Tak sighed. "Please. It's for the good of the Resisty." Lard Nar hesitated, glancing at them again. "I... Um... I'll think about it." He said, looking away once more.

"Thank you."

**Still bored... Review, please! **


	17. Just Leave Me Alone!

_**Just Leave Me Alone!**_

**YEEEEESSS! Illustrations! **

**saoirseranekaera(dot)deviantart(dot)com /art/ Tak-and-Snare-100453903**

**My ears are still ringing from screaming. XD**

**This was done by the absolutely amazing Ranekaera. **

**I glomped her... WHO WANTS A GLOMP!?**

**YOU MUST LOOK AT THE ILLUSTRATIONS! YOU MUSSSST!! OR I WILL SLASH YOU WITH MAH KITTY CLAWS OF DOOOOOM!!**

**Okay... I'm done...**

_Now that's just sad..._

Tak jumped and looked around. _Poor Takky joined a bunch of headstrong idiots... Tsk tsk... What am I going to do with you?_

Yet again, that cool, haunting voice drifted into the room. Tak's jaw tightened. I_ could probably translate those oh-so-important blueprints..._ Tak looked over her shoulder as what felt like a cold breeze drifted through.

"You're the one-" She took a moment to shakily swallow. "You're the one who got them." She said, narrowing her eyes coldly.

_I can see your fear, Tak. _

"Wh-what do you want?" She spat out, frustrated. _I want us to be normal again, Tak. That's all._ Tak wasn't stupid, which would probably explain why she could tell Snare was lying through her teeth.

"You're lying." Tak said hotly.

Another cold breeze.

_No, I'm not._

Tak shivered, then sat down, hugging her knees. "It's okay to be scared, Tak. Just be honest..." Her voice had a terrifying attempt at comfort to it as she appeared in front of Tak. "L-leave me alone..." She hissed suddenly. Snare smiled.

"I woooouuulllddd translate those wonderful blueprints... Buuuut... Sadly, that defect took out the chip. So sad..."

Tak bolted up. "Just so you know, we're defective, too."

"Oh no, Tak, no, we're not. How can you not realize that? We're so much... Better! So much smarter... So much... More powerful. Don't you see?"

"No. I don't." Tak hissed. "And I don't think I want to." She turned around abruptly. "Now, why go and act like that when I have so much more power than you?"

Tak slowly glanced behind her. "SHUT UP!" She swung a fist at the spirit, but as she did, Snare disappeared.

"Oh well. I'll give you time, eh? Hehehe..." Her haunting laugh echoed off the walls.

x

Tak was still shaking when she bumped into Dib on the way to her cabin. She pursed her lips and looked down, clearly embarrassed. "Um, sorry. I... Um... I wanted to... Uh... Talk to you about... What happened..."

She couldn't see Dib's expression at this point, for she wasn't looking at him. "I... I can't." She sighed quietly. Her knees began to wobble again. "I can't. I'm... I'm Irken... And you're human... I'm practically half machine..."

"Not anymore." Dib said softly. "Not since Zim-"

"So what? I still have to rely on _this,_" She turned around and pointed to hahahailikepiggies her PAK. "To even live." She shut her eyes and sighed. "I know-" She stopped, her voice broke here.

"I know you might not want to accept it. You have to, Dib... I just..." She stopped to swallow. "I just don't want you hurt... So please... Just..." Her knees were going to give out. She could feel it.

"Just stay away from me!"

Her cry was loud, and she could already feel several tears welling up in her eyes before she turned around and ran for it. She got into her cabin, climbed onto the top bunk, and sobbed.

_What's wrong with me?_

"Alot of things, if I do say so myself."

Tak looked up, quickly wiping her eyes. Snare was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, her hands resting in her lap.

"Get out." She whispered.

"Oh, what was that?"

"Get out!" She hissed.

"Oooh. Fiesty, are we?"

Tak felt a sense of terror creep over her once again, and she began to shiver. Snare began to laugh insanely. "You think you're so _smart!_" She snorted, then disappeared.

x

**_Several Hours Later..._**

Tak sighed, the blueprint was spread out in front of her. She had allowed GIR to sit next to her, so long as he stayed quiet so she could focus. The robot was snoring quietly while clutching a rubber piggy and a taquito. Where he got them, Tak had no idea.

It felt a little strange. Once Snare disappeared, she no longer felt that fear... Her thoughts were interupted by Zim opening the door, then closing it behind him. "Honey, I'm home!"

Tak tossed GIR's rubber piggy down at him. "Very funny." Almost immediately, GIR shot up, crying, yelling, "NOOO!! Why my piggy?! WHY?! I LOVEDED YOU, PIGGY!! I LOVEDED YOU!!"

There was a long pause where everyone but GIR stared at eachother, then they all broke out into insane laughter. GIR looked around, then laughed loudly.

Tak finally sighed, rolling up the blueprints. "What are those? Tell Zim."

"Blueprints. They're in Vortian. But 'Nar's being childish and won't translate them."

"... I can read Vortian."


	18. Tell No One

_**Tell No One**_

**-Has earphones jammed up nose for no particular reason whatsoever-**

**... Well, a teensy bit of the main plot is revealed here. :) Yes, it took eighteen chapters, a PAK soul, two Invaders, a hybrid, a Vortian, two very tall idiots, and me to reveal this little bit. Mwahahaha. :k I intend for this to last thirty chapters at the least. It'll probably be more. Although... I can promise you there will be no sequel. It'll make more sense later. (Shiawase Negai **

**Kanata Kara. ;) Don't tell anyone if you understood that.) **

**Well... Onto the chapter!**

"You... Can?" Tak asked, completely blown away by Zim's sudden bilingual... Ness.

"You can't?" He asked, blinking at her with surprise. "They program it into your PAK when- Oh." He looked down, sucking in a cheek with a blank expression. Tak shot him a dull look.

"Forget it. Listen, just tell me what these are for."

"Give me the night, and I'll do it."

"TACOS!" GIR interjected loudly. Zim only laughed and sighed. Tak somehow didn't see the humor. "AWWW!! Takky needs a hug!"

"No! No! No!" Tak waved her hands like insane, but the robot still clung to her, she was caught in his iron (Literally!) grip. "Gah... A little help here?" She looked at Zim, pursing her lips into a tight line.

Zim snickered. "No, this is too entertaining." Then he left to get snacks. Tak slapped her palm to her face, although she had figured out how to deal with the demented robot a long time ago. "GIR, I'll take away your tacos if you don't let go of me."

GIR let go immediately, and began to clutch his rubber piggy, tears in his eyes. (How this is possible, no one knows.) "B-but I need tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes..."

"Then don't hug me again." Tak growled. The SIR nodded and tightly clutched his piggy. Zim came back in, handing Tak a bag of chips and a soda. "The Dib-stink thinks you hate him." He informed her mildly.

"Oh." Tak bit her lip, grimacing. "What'd you say to him?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned about." Tak said, putting a chip into her mouth. "Oh, Irk, it's been months!" She suddenly shouted joyfully, her antennae pointing up onto her head. Zim laughed as she quickly shoved somewhere around five of them at a time into her mouth.

"Whaaat?" Tak whined loudly with a mouthful of chips. Zim snickered. "Nothing... I just find the consuming of chips quite entertaining." Tak rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She said with another mouthful.

"Hey, Zim," Tak began slowly.

"Yeah?"

"Um... When you worked on my PAK, did you... Mess with anything? Anything at all? Was anything... Different?"

"I took out everything infected by the virus."

"How much was that?"

"Everything but the life support. It was almost infected. "

"What do you mean... Almost?"

"I mean that there was a protection on it."

"Protection?"

"Yeah. There was like... Well, imagine there was a code you had to crack to get into it. The virus couldn't crack the code."

"Is that normal?"

"Well..." Zim hesitated.

"Just tell me!" Tak snapped irritably.

"Not really. It's pretty common among the Irken Elites, though. The Control Brains add it, because they don't want someone so high in the Armada to be lost."

Okay. So that was different.

"Was there anything else?"

Zim shook his head at the question. "No. Not that I could see. Why?"

"Well..." Tak bit her lip.

_Tell him and he dies. _

Tak paled. "N-never mind..."

"Tak? Are you alright?"

_Good. Don't say anything about me, or you'll pay. _Tak felt her throat tighten. "I-I'm fine... J-just need to rest..."

She fainted.

x

"Listen to me!" Snare said, shaking a fist angrily. Her dark gray eyes looked at Tak with utter fury. "Tell _no one!_ Understand me? No one! No one can know about me! Say _nothing!_"

Tak jumped, startled. "Why?"

"Because!" Snare hissed. "I swear, I will kill anyone you tell. Understand? _Kill._"

Tak shivered as a cold breeze swept through, and nodded fearfully.

"No one will stand in my way, understand?"

Tak nodded, still trembling. "Y-yes..." She didn't want anyone to die.

"And I'm not afraid to bring you pain, either." Snare smiled. "I think you know what I'm talking about." She chuckled and Tak nodded, her breaths still shaky. She let out a completely terrifying laugh.

"Remember... No one."


	19. SHE LIES! SHE LIIIIIIIIIEEEEESSS!

_**What's Happening?**_

**More answers in this chapter. Sorry it's so late. I had to work on a project for World Cultures. Some of the inspiration for the PAK soul came from Ranekaera (Geez, lots of mentions here!) and her story, "Accidentally on Purpose" Credit goes to her. A few funny things she did on MSN Live with her pen on my DeviantArt, TallestYellow. **

**PS – HA! My dad's in real estate, and something funny happened today. He had Brisingr next to his desk, and the lady he's with goes, "You're reading Brisingr? I'm right in the middle of it!"**

"**Yeah, my daughter's reading it, too. She writes Invader Zim fanfictions for ."**

"**You're kidding me! I love Invader Zim!"**

**So now I have to write down the link to my profile. HAHAHA! This is funny, and totally awesome at the same time! **

**PEACE!**

Zim struggled just to keep his red-maroon eyes open. This had to be translated. He took in a breath, scribbling down more letters in Irken.

No matter how many times he would look at it... It didn't make sense! They were saying something about a microchip being put into a PAK... Something that would split it and the host into two completely different entities... But why?

It made no sense to him, no matter which way he looked at it. Even with the help of his PAK, he was having trouble translating it. The letters were beginning to mash up together in his mind. He sighed as he noticed he was seeing double. He took his head, rubbing his eyes to stay awake. Sighing, he leaned back and picked up what he had so far.

Nothing seemed work anything until he got to a certain line.

_-Built-in encoding to prevent damage against security breaches_

Zim jolted up, surprised. All signs of exhaustion were gone. He slowly looked behind his shoulder, his eyes widening at Tak's unconscious form. It couldn't hurt to check... Could it? No... Of course not! He slowly got up, and walked silently over to the other Irken.

x

Did she hate him? Of course she did. Dib's feet dragged along the corridor in silence. With a yank of frustration, he stopped focusing on his feet long enough to look out the huge window built into the wall, looking at the stars.

He thought quietly. Had he come on too strong? Why had she told him to leave her alone? He pursed his lips quietly, and ran one of his hands on the top of his head, momentarily slicking the scythe down, before it popped back up. It had a kink in the very end now, only slightly like his father's.

He sighed. Why did she have to hate him? Had he just freaked her out?

"Gah... I don't know what's going on." Dib was surprised to hear an answer.

"You're not the only one." Dib turned his head to see Lard Nar, who nonchalantly walked over and leaned against the wall with him. "It's... Difficult... Not knowing what's happening, I mean."

Dib mumbled nothing in particular in agreement. "Especially when you're the leader." Lard Nar said. "I'm in charge of the lives of hundreds of different people. I could lead them all to their deaths." He shivered, and Dib nodded.

"And I'm scared I'll make a mistake."

Dib took a closer look at the Vortian. He looked tired, for the first time. Although his eyes were shielded by the green-tinted goggles, it was obvious he hadn't slept in a while. "And then, I can't show that I can make a mistake at any moment." Dib looked at him for a second, then it was Lard Nar who asked him the next part. "What are you worried about?" He asked, obviously he thought he had gone a little overboard. "Nothing. Just scared Tak hates me."

"What makes you say that?" Lard Nar asked, looking at him blankly. "The fact that she yelled at me to leave her alone." He said, sighing. "I'm not sure why I feel the way I do, I'm not even sure what this is. Every time I see her... I just..." He sighed.

"I saw what you did." Lard Nar said, looking at Dib and smirking. "Before she left for the Massive. I saw that."

Dib flushed. "You... Did?" He asked nervously, grimacing. Lard Nar nodded. "I think you know what's going on, Dib. You just don't know why." Lard Nar said philosophically.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Dib slapped his palm to his face. Why did aliens have to be so... Complicated?

x

"The defect's messing with us again." Snare said, looking around, eyes narrowed into slits. "Uh oh. Quick! Wake up!" She hissed, getting straight into her face. The sudden rush of anger made Tak jump.

Her eyes snapped open. Zim was leaning over her, with an almost terrified expression set on his face. "Oh, Irk..." He whispered faintly, his lips quivering.

"Tak... Please tell me the truth... What... What are you seeing when you have those dreams?"

_Kill._

Snare's terrifying words echoed in her mind.

"Nothing."


	20. Have You Ever Been In Love?

**YEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!! TWENTY CHAPTERS! -Throws taquitos into the air- :D And I am now officially a Cadette Girl Scout... Although I was never a Daisy, Brownie, or Junior in the first place. XD I've found I wake up easier when I get six hours of sleep a night, rather than nine. Strange, but true. I feel more rested. **

**This is one of the very few plots I am confident about. I don't have absolutely everything planned out yet, but a lot of it is. I don't think it's possible to poke a hole in this one. Things are going to be revealed soon. ;) I'm surprised by my own ability to drag it out. It's always been a problem with me, diving straight into the story, (Well, I technically had a good setting here to do it, but yeah.) Then moving too fast for anyone to keep up with. (Like the Zelda fanfic I wrote in fifth grade. IT BURNS MY EYES!!)**

**Dad wants me to move onto something original. Pft. .. He keeps giving me this lecture about how Christopher Paolini was sixteen when he wrote Eragon. I keep telling him I'm five years younger and that I get feedback from other writers here. Haha. He doesn't know about Writer's Cafe... Well, on with the story! **

"You're lying." Zim countered immediately. "I know you are." Tak shoved herself upward into a sitting position. "I'm not, Zim."

"I know you are!" Zim was steadily shouting, becoming angry. "Tell me!"

Tak trembled angrily. "I'M NOT!" She screamed, louder than intended. "I'm not lying, you defect!" She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. A long moment of silence, before Zim finally said, "I'm gonna go take a walk. Or something."

"Zim, I..." Tak began softly. "No. I get it." Zim's shoulders visibly tensed. "You need a break. Of course you would." His antennae went back, and he was hissing fiercely now. "I'm sorry, Zim... I didn't mean..."

Zim only snorted before leaving without another word.

"Takky make masta sad?" GIR asked, climbing up next to her while quietly munching a taquito. Tak sighed. "Yes." She said softly.

"Masta like to be alone when he sad."

Tak knew he was trying to be helpful. Wait, was the robot being... Un-stupid? That was shoved out of her mind when he suddenly said, "MOOSEY FATE BRING US ALLL! TOGETTTTTHHHEERRR!!"

Then clung to her. Tak slapped her palm to her face.

x

Zim sighed, glad to be out of that. He held his green, antennaed head in one hand. His head was pounding. Either from lack of sleep or the argument with Tak. That little... Who did she think she was? Talking to _Zzziiiimmm_ like that!?

Was she forgetting that she was labeled defective, too? He was older than her, anyway! The brat! Then his head hurt again. _Gah... I need sleep._ He thought harshly to himself, but he couldn't bare to go back and show his face after stomping out like that... No... If he needed to sleep, he'd just have to sleep here. Yeah. That didn't seem too bad.

Still angry, he sat down, his head resting gently against the wall. "Stupid Tak... Thinks she's so good with her advanced PAK..." He knew this wasn't true. He knew... Whatever entity that artificial intelligence had turned into was giving her nightmares... And threats.

The only question was... What did it want? It wanted... Something from Tak. Something... Maybe she just couldn't give...

His thoughts were going slower, more sluggish. He yawned loudly, and didn't realize it when he actually fell asleep.

x

Her plan couldn't fail. Tak was just another barrier... Another problem in her plan. Along with Zim... She'd have to kill him, regardless. Oh, and the human... Definitely. It was easy to tell Tak was in love with him.

Snare chuckled. Oh, it would be so much fun... Seeing the look on her face once both of them were dead. She could visualize it now... The tears in her eyes... The ever-present fear... The stupidity. She began to laugh insanely.

This plan would work without fail. Not a single flaw. No one would stand in her way. She would kill anyone who did. Boom. Problem solved.

The only thing left was to figure out how to make Tak weak enough without hurting herself.

And she began to plan.

x

"Hey, Zim. Wake up." Dib sucked in a cheek. Wow, Zim could sleep! Finally, she gave him a sharp kick in the side. "World domination? What?" Zim yelled loudly as he jolted awake. Dib rolled his eyes. "Dude, what are you doing sleeping here?"

"Tak got on my nerves."

"She hates you too, huh?"

"I never said that!" Zim protested sharply.

Dib only snorted.

"She called me 'defect.'" Zim muttered.

"Oh."

"I wonder if those artificial beavers ever came out..."

Dib gave Zim an odd look. "Oh yeah." Dib chuckled. "I remember that."

"You weren't there, Dib-human."

"I was spying."

"Figures."

Then there was silence.

"Hey, Zim."

"Yes, Dib-human?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

**Things are going to unravel soon. I'm glad, too... It was killing me. I'm glad we've reached the 20th chapter. Thanks, guys.**

**Oh! Almost forgot. When I was in Snare's POV, I checked how many words I had... It was 666. I was FREAKED OUT!! Well, at least Snare's a villain... Hahaha.**


	21. You're Slowly Killing Me

_**You're Slowly Killing Me**_

**Hi, everyone. I know SOMEONE -cough- Nathan -cough- keeps pestering me about how on Irk Snare is supposed to kill people... Hehehe. Just wait. It'll all make sense later. -Waves hands around weirdly- Wow. I'm BLOATED today. Er... Sorry to any guys reading this... I'll... Shut up now...**

Zim turned around and stared at Dib as though he had just grown another head, then laughed. "L-love?! HA! Zim doesn't need love!" He obviously thought Dib was joking. Dib looked irritated. "I'm not kidding, Zim." He said hotly.

The laughing stopped. Zim stared at Dib. They looked at each other in silence for several long moments. "And why do you want to know?" Zim asked, his antennae flicking up slightly. "I think I might be falling." Dib said.

Zim paled. "Who on Irk..."

"I..." Dib choked to get the words out. "I'm in love with Tak."

x

They couldn't see her, so they didn't know she was standing right there in front of them. Snare grinned cruelly. She could use this to her advantage.

Almost everything was completed now. There was just that little detail of how she would get what she wanted, Tak out of the way, without harming herself. If she just killed Tak, she'd die, too... No, she'd have to get rid of the pest a different way...

Nothing could mess up in this plan. Nothing... Absolutely, positively nothing could get in her way. Her black booted feet stepped silently onto the floor. If she hadn't just been a soul, her feet would be clunking loudly on the floor.

Being a mere spirit, she didn't have to worry about walls too much. She easily drifted through the cabin door, where Tak was sleeping. The Irken had barely slept last night, too worried about Zim. Pft. Snare glanced at the idiotic robot lying at Tak's feet. It appeared to be snoring.

As a PAK soul, Snare had almost always had control of Tak's emotions without her knowing. With a grin, she decided to have some fun.

x

The handshake was short. Tak distinctly remembered it. "Congratulations, Zim!" She had said happily. Zim smiled at her. "Thank you... Almost Invader." He smirked teasingly. Tak shot him a little bit of a sour look, although she knew he was just teasing her.

Zim cocked his head. "Awww... Did I... _Upset _the Smeety?"

Tak pursed her lips, then tackled him. He laughed, then flipped her off with a smirk. Then a cold breeze swept through, and she heard two people speaking.

"_We... it is!"_

"_We... all of them."_

"_... Armada... Best..."_

"_... No choice... Sift out... Option."_

Then a sigh.

"_What... Zim?"_

"_It... be... Defect... Advanced..."_ This one's voice seemed to be talking about something obvious.

"_... Tak? Greatest... Ever lived."_

"_Not anymore."_

Shivers went down her spine, although she felt sluggish and not awake.

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of another voice. This time, she just plain felt like crying.

"I think I might be falling." Dib said. His voice was almost silent. Zim sat beside him, his elbow resting lazily on his bent knee. Zim's face turned off-white, as if he had seen a ghost. He swallowed loudly. Even Tak, several feet away could hear it. "Who on Irk...?"

There were several long moments of almost-silence.

"I..." He sounded completely choked. "I'm in love with Tak."

Tak's face paled as she felt an overwhelming mix of sadness and dread come over her. "I'm sorry..." She whispered softly.

_You're slowly killing me._

**Sorry I haven't updated. A lot of things have been going on. I've been writing whenever I get the chance, and I haven't lately. This chapter took three days. o.o I'm going to go swimming for a little bit. Swim Team sign-up is soon and I have to train as well as get my physical. **

**Love and kittens!**

**-TallestYellow**


	22. No Idea

_**No Idea**_

**MEOW! :D Snare's plot is being revealed... The Tallest's reasoning are coming into play... And Tak and Dib's relationship is growing. MWAHAHAHAHA! We're at 22 chapters, and this is constantly getting better and better. There are even more illustrations, now, by the way.**

**saoirseranekaera(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Tak-s-comfort-food-100981195**

**Tak chowing down on the chips! XD Yes, Dib is supposed to have the little kink. Once again, done by the utterly awesome Ranekaera. :D GO MOOSES!**

"Heh."

Tak's head turned slowly to the side to see Snare standing there, almost grinning. "Why did you show me this?" Said a demanding voice. She was surprised to find that it was her own.

Snare didn't respond, simply looked on. "Funny coincidence, eh?"

Tak let herself sneer.

"I figured you cared about him." Snare said, beginning to laugh maniacally again.

"What are you thinking?" Tak began to shout, for once showing complete and utter defiance against the PAK soul.

"Nooooottthhhhiiiinnnggg..." Snare's sing-song voice sounded like a bell.

"TELL ME!" Tak suddenly shouted, jumping at her own yell.

"What if I don't feeeel like iiiiiitttt...?" She suddenly said, waving her hand in a completely nonchalant manner. Tak suddenly felt much, much weaker. Snare must of caught her expression, for she began to laugh like a psychopath... Like she always did... Tak glared with intense antipathy.

"Hhh... Fiiiiiine. Maybe... If you don't do as you are told..." Snare gave her a terrifying look before raising a silent, black booted foot and letting it land silently on the floor. She walked over to Dib, and stood behind him in silence, grinning terrifyingly as she took out a laser, and pointed it downward at him.

Tak gasped. "No..." She said softly, feeling her throat tighten terribly. "Okay..." She whispered. "I'll... I'll do what you say." Her knees locked. "Oh, huh? What was thaaat?" Snare sounded like she was singing.

"I... I'll do what you say."

"Good." Snare's voice was like a purr. It made Tak feel sick. Snare drifted over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Every... Last... Thing... Riiiiight?" She said with a soft grin.

Tak swallowed. "Yes..." She whispered, suddenly feeling frozen in place. Snare smirked. "That's perfect." She said before disappearing. Like dust in the wind.

"Remember. Everything."

x

Tak woke up with a startled gasp. She let her hand grasp her pounding head. Even from the top bunk, she could hear Zim's loud snores from beneath her. She sat there for a moment, trying to balance out her thoughts. If she didn't do what Snare said... She swallowed. She'd kill him... And he was in love with her...

Tak jumped down, suddenly feeling like crying. Sighing, she grabbed a bag of chips and a soda, tore open the chips, and began to mindlessly stuff herself, all the while thinking:

_I'm in love, too. _

x

_On the Massive..._

"Hey. Red."

"Fmmf?" Red had a doughnut jammed into his mouth.

"D'ya think that prototype was really killed?" Purple asked with a yawn.

"What'cha mean? They all died." Red stated, shoving more snacks into his mouth.

"'Cept for Tak an' Zim." Purple said nonchalantly. "But what if it's one of them? Maybe that's how Tak survived. The Elite encoding."

Red stopped. He certainly hadn't thought of that before...

"Well, um..."

Purple suddenly stopped. "Uh oh." They looked at each other and grimaced.

This was bad.

_Several snacks later..._

"What was this model, anyway?"

"It had extreme artificial intelligence... Part of the reason it failed was it got too smart." Red said matter-of-factly. "Prototype number 30426."

"Oh yeah." Purple said, nodding quickly. "Those were a disaster..." Red nodded in agreement. "But there's no way Tak could be one of them, is there?" Purple asked.

"For once, I have no idea."


	23. I Love You

_**I Love You**_

Tak shoved herself up, finding her throat dry and sore. She smacked her green lips, grimacing all the while. She must have fallen asleep with the chips and soda... Sighing, she leaned back. She suddenly felt like crying as remembered what had happened the previous night. She clenched her knees tightly to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

She finally got up after what seemed like several hours. She still felt tired and exhausted. She jammed a foot into one of her boots. They were only a little past her ankle, but they were at least somewhat comfortable. With a sigh, she looked at her reflection in the metal of the ship.

One of her antennae were crooked, which she quickly adjusted. Her hand touched the piece of wire going around part of her head. The transmitter was quite old, now that she thought about it.

She put a three-fingered hand down.

She decided to appreciate that Snare wasn't there for once. She pushed her antennae back against her skull, then rubbed her dark purple eyes.

She took several steps toward the cabin door, punched in the code and left.

Her steps were heavy.

She wasn't sure why she was walking so slowly, but whether she knew it or not, she was walking toward Dib's cabin.

Then she ended up bumping into him.

First, she flew backward, swearing rather loudly in Irken. Dib shouted something, and she felt someone lifting her up. She felt a wave of embarrassment as he realized he had caught her. She blushed a deep shade of green.

There were several moments of silence. They stared at each other. Tak tried to smile, but tears welled up in her eyes. Her gentle breathing quickly advanced into an irregular pattern. She shut her eyes, rested her head on his chest...

And cried.

She could tell he was surprised at first, but she was too busy letting herself loose to say anything. She didn't know why it had just exploded out of her all of a sudden. It had all been... Inside... And now... She was just letting it all go.

Dib had obviously been surprised at first, jumping like that. But now his arms were wrapped silently around the Irken.

Tak really couldn't be sure how long had passed before he said, "It's alright..." Extended his arms, and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "I..." She didn't know where her words came from this time, they just exploded out of her.

Kind of like a bomb.

"I love you."

x

Snare could only laugh... Maniacally, that is. As always. Didn't Tak realize she was just putting him in more danger than she realized?

It was all set. The plan. No. It was completely foolproof. It would be executed next chance she got. Tak better not get used to this. Not for one second. It would all be ruined soon, anyway.

And she began to laugh like a complete and utter psychopath once again.


	24. It Has Only Just Begun

_**It Has Only Just Begun**_

**Hey, everyone. Finally, the real fight is starting. YAY! :D I'm going to start making a playlist for this fan fiction. If anyone knows any great quotes or anything, please tell mah. I'ma have a chapter at the end that are like, quotes, dedications, and thanks. Okay, now let's start!**

Zim had forced himself to stay up the night again. He almost had it all figured out... As far as he could see, this was what was happening:

Tak's PAK had been an advanced version, still in the prototype stages. It had somehow made it into the Smeetery's supply... And it had ended up landing on Tak.

It wasn't really an Elite encoding, just something similar. An easier alternative. A shortcut. They hadn't realized the mistake until the artificial intelligence in the PAK was developed beyond belief. It was almost a separate entity in the whole.

They had only known it had been at Invader status... That was it! That would explain it! That's why they had killed all the Invaders... Okay...

He fell asleep.

x

Tak's head rested softly against him. It was strange, to hear the pounding of a human heart this close. _I love you when I shouldn't._ Tak thought softly as she walked with him. But she didn't acknowledge it for once, just enjoying the fact that Snare wasn't there to ruin it.

There was some longer silence, and she felt her eyelids heavily drooping, before somewhere along the lines, she fell asleep, leaning next to him.

Dib glanced down blankly. He still wasn't quite sure what to think of yet. For one thing, he was in love with an alien. In fact, the same species he had tried to expose dozens of times.

He figured he would just take her back to her cabin.

With a sigh, he gently picked her up. The Irken was surprisingly light; He barely had to put any effort into it.

When he had reached the door, he knocked softly. "Zim?"

Zim opened the door, looking tired and droopy-eyed. "What-" His eyes widened when he saw who Dib was carrying. He blinked at the both of them.

Dib rolled his eyes and silently put Tak on the top bunk. She mumbled something inaudible. "She fell asleep." He said to Zim. Then he realized he had to look down to keep eye contact with the Irken now. Zim _was _short!

"What?" Zim muttered, obviously catching Dib staring.

"Huh? Oh... Nothing." He said, remembering how bad of an insult it would be if he told him. "Okay." Zim stated, rubbing his eyes. "If you don't mind, could you hand me that soda?" He said, pointing to the can on his desk. "Translating the blueprints?" Dib asked, grabbing it and handing it to him. He nodded, taking a long sip of it then setting it back down.

"Anything important thus far?"

Zim hesitated, unsure what he should and shouldn't say.

One thing was for sure:

He couldn't tell Dib that the entity separate from Tak wanted to take over her body.

And would do anything to get it.

x

"Perfect..." Snare breathed, smiling. "Perfect..." She repeated. Her voice echoed softly.

"Prepare yourself, Tak..." She grinned.

"May the battle begin."

**Ooooooh... It's getting good! And JoeMerl, I like Snare, too. Hahaha. Apologies to Chicky.Licky! I know Zten has been standing there with a laser to Dib's head for a while. Either I'm going to continue it on my own, or we're moving it to TallestBlue's account. **

**P.S. - I know Joe and Chicky have read PAKless. TallestBlue is my best friend, and that is her first real fic. It was short because her computer deleted the original file, and she accidentally (On Purpose!) put it up as the rough draft. So please cut her some slack. She's going to redo it some time. She has much less time to write than I do. Hahaha... Then again... Everyone does. TT I pretty much have no life on the weekends... And Monday is a student holiday, so I'll be writing again! WOO HOO!**


	25. Scream

_**Scream**_

**Hey, guys. I've begun to build a play list for this fan fiction. **

**View(dot)playlist(dot)com/13019408395**

**The first one is kind of an input from all the characters. You should be able to recognize it. Some of it won't make sense until the end, though. **

**Alright, let's start.**

Snare's fingers were laced perfectly together; Almost beautifully, if that was possible. She was smiling gently. "Hello, Tak." Her voice was silky. Tak looked at her, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. Before she could react, Snare was right in front of her, their faces barely inches apart.

Tak jumped. Snare laughed.

"'Tak, Tak, Tak… What am I going to do with you?' That's the question… That _constantly _nagged at me! _Constantly _distracted me!" She began to twitch. "No, no… Maybe I'm getting too far ahead of myself… Yes…" She began to laugh maniacally. "Do you know what I wanted _all along, _Tak? What I wanted from you?"

Tak's eyes widened for a moment, and she swallowed. "N-no…" Snare grinned. She looked more insane than ever. She whispered softly, right next to Tak's antennae, "I wanted… This body for myself. To stop being a _stupid _PAK soul!" She began to scream loudly.

"OH NO! But that defect _ZIM!_" She scowled. "Had to ruin _everything!_" She screamed louder, staring at Tak with an almost hungry expression. "All of the technology! ALL OF IT!!"

Snare grabbed Tak by the top of her uniform. "And…" She panted. "I finally figured it out! Why not just…" Snare neared her antennae and whispered,

"_Trade places?"_

Tak suddenly felt weaker as Snare laughed while tilting her head to the side, laughing maniacally, in a way that made her seem even more insane. "Why not… Just make _you _the soul? I mean, I can't _kkkiiiillll _you…"

"You can't." Tak said, ashamed the way her voice cracked. She was terrified.

"Oh no, Tak. I can." Snare smiled.

Tak felt herself slam painfully against the ground. Pain busted into her head. She felt her blood again. She forced herself up, vision spotted with black. Snare laughed. "Does this bring back some memories, Tak?" She asked, baring her teeth and giving a surprisingly powerful smack across the head.

"This… Can't happen… It's a dream…" Tak sputtered. Snare laughed. "This isn't a dream, Tak… It's actually quite real." She felt a kick in her side, and yelped softly.

"Why not give up, Tak?" Snare said, laughing in a despicable, childish way. Tak shook her head. "I… Can't…" She sputtered. She felt the blood dribbling down her chin.

"And why is that?"

"… D… Dib…"

Snare began to laugh once again. "HIM?! Oh, Tak… That's why I'm here… You don't have these emotions… They're not _real _like I am."

"LIAR!" Tak hissed suddenly. She was dizzy. The sudden outburst made her head throb. She winced as she felt more blood.

"Oh no, Tak. I'm not lying. You're just lying to herself."

Then came the blissful, silent, blackness.

**Yeah, I know. Short. Don't get onto me. XD I'm trying to drag it out somewhat.**


	26. Trapped

_**Trapped**_

_**"I'm trapped in the middle of a room, screaming for a way out, but no one looks up or hears me. It's just me, on my own, someone notice, someone see this, someone stop me from myself. Stop this ghost of no one!" -- Saoirse Mahar**_

Snare shoved herself up, yawning and blinking. She glanced around. _Yes! It worked! _She thought gleefully. Zim was across the room, working on something. He glanced behind him. "Took you long enough…" He muttered. "Come here. I wanna see something."

Snare nodded, jumping down. "Check what?" She asked, blinking her purple eyes for emphasis.

Zim sighed. "Listen, I figured out long ago what was going on with your PAK, so you don't have to be afraid any more."

Snare narrowed her eyes. This was interesting. "So what do you want?" She asked, her voice tighter. "Let me check your PAK." Zim answered. He apparently had absolutely no concern whether or not Snare would mind. He immediately was jamming buttons.

There were several mumbles and grunts, then an almost silent gasp. Snare grinned, glancing over her shoulder at him.

The next thing Zim probably felt was himself slam against the wall, then slide down quietly, green blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

Snare confirmed he was unconscious with a smile and cruel laugh.

x

"No! No! Stop!" Tak shouted, trembling softly. Her now gray eyes looked pleadingly at the sight before her.

_Shut up, you! This is _my _body now!_

Tak's eyes would have watered if she hadn't just been a PAK soul. "Stop it! I can't take this!"

_Then you shouldn't watch. Although I'd like you to stay for the next show._

Tak could almost see Snare grin terribly.

_Let's eliminate your precious Dib, shall we?_

"… No…"

_Oh yes, Tak. _

"No! Please don't!" Tak felt her breathing become irregular, as if she would have been crying. "Don't! Don't!" She felt her knees shake.

_MWAHAHAHAHA! _Snare's cruel laugh echoed slightly in the emptiness.

"Please… No…"

_You're going to see what it's like to only be a PAK soul! To just have to watch! To have to look out upon the world and know you'll never be part of it! _

Tak could only watch as Snare opened the door of the cabin and began to leave. Tak recognized two Vortians, Pariz and Nafan, talking. They nodded to her shortly.

Tak only wished she could greet them back.

**Mahhhh… It's getting close! Only two or three chapters left until a really major part. It will go past that a few chapters. This'll probably go past thirty chapters. Sigh But I'm still depressededed… MAH! I'm going to try to limit myself to just one chapter per day now. I really want this to last… But I also wanna reveal what I've been planning since chapter four… Gah. IT HURTS MY HEEEEEAAAADDD!**

**Cowers under table**


	27. SHUT UP AND FIGHT!

_**SHUT UP AND FIGHT!**_

**Hey, everyone. I just took a Sudafed PE, I have a cold. Sorry if the grammar in this is sorta funky... I'm a little tired. XD Gah, it's like... Three to five chapters until the end. TT NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! This only lasted like... Three weeks. TT Dang. I'm going to have to learn to not update so much with my next fan fiction... Which will be Lucky Star, if anyone watches/reads that. . It will be about Kanata and Soujiro's childhood... Like, how they met and stuff. Either like a diary or a biography of Kanata. **

**Well... The quote of the day is...**

"_**You took the breath right out of me...**_

_**You left a hole where my heart should be!**_

_**You've gotta fight just to make it through...**_

_**'Cause I will be the death of you!" -- Breaking Benjamin, "Breath" **_

_No! This couldn't happen. Tak frantically looked around at the endless whiteness around her. "Something! Anything! Stop her..." She said aloud, looking around at a frightful pace. She had to save him. No matter what. She had... She quickly swallowed. She had to save his life. If Snare killed Dib... She swallowed._

Snare chuckled slightly. _Nothing you can do about it now, is there? _She thought with a quick smirk. When she spotted Dib, she full-out grinned. "Show time." She muttered, before stepping out, her hand resting gently on her laser.

_No... No... Please, oh, Irk, no..._

Dib glanced behind him for a moment. "Hi, Tak!" He seemed more cheerful than he usually was. As if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Snare drew the laser with a cruel smile, and began to walk toward him, it pointed straight at him.

_Tak felt herself weaken. No... This couldn't be happening!_

"Tak?" He asked softly. "I'm not Tak." Snare said, smiling softly. "My name is Snare. I'm Tak's PAK soul. I'm the thing that made her strong." Snare smiled. "You're much cuter now, you know?" She said, cocking her head to one side, her purple eyes huge. It made her look even _more_ like a psychopath, if that was even possible.

"Than when you were eleven, I mean. You're more... Defined... Somehow." Snare smiled and cocked her head to the side. "Too bad I'll have to kill you."

Then the chase started.

Oh, Irk... Please don't let this be the end of him... _Tak thought painfully, flinching as she did so. He had to live... She didn't know why. Okay, she knew. She was in love._

_She had been in love ever since she had found his trenchcoat draped over her in sleep. Ever since that one... Simple gesture... She had felt this strange, fluttering feeling whenever she saw him. She just hadn't recognized it until several days ago. And now, here she was. Dib was probably going to get killed, and she'd be like this forever._

_And it was just her fault._

Snare ran around the room, chasing him while laughing like the maniac she was. The laser was being shot everywhere. "LOVE? Hah! I'll show you _love!_" Snare hissed.

"No. Keep fighting. If you give up now, he'll never even stand a chance."_ Tak looked around, wondering where the voice had come from._

"Don't be like the Tallest and just give up."

"_But..." She began slowly._

​No buts! Just do it! Fight! Fight with your whole self! Fight with every fiber in your being! Remember yourself just a few years ago?"

"_Yes... But things were different back then..."_

"SO WHAT? You're still the same old Tak. Learn from your mistakes! Fight for your honor! Fight for who you love! And fight for who and what you want to protect. Don't give up! Now get up, and fight!"

_To this day, still no one knows where the voice had come from. All anyone knows is that at that moment, Tak got up, and began to search for a way to save the life of her beloved. _

The alarms had begun to go off. Resisty aliens were beginning to swarm around, gasping loudly and dodging maverick laser blasts. Dib was amazing. He ducked whenever needed, and on several occasions, he even flipped. The only problem he was having was that he had no weapon himself.

_Her real specialty was ships, but... She knew PAK technology well enough. She hadn't exactly studied it, but she knew how it worked, considering it was the only thing keeping her from flopping around on the ground, dying from lack of air. _

_She had to think of a way. She had some control over the PAK, didn't she? She just wasn't sure what she did and she didn't have control over. That... And she didn't know how. Those were pretty much the only problems. _

_She quickly began to think._

_Anything... Please... Help..._

Snare had him against the corner. He couldn't escape now. "Oh, come now... Why don't you give up?" She said, her voice sounding like a purr again.

Dib sneered. One of the lenses of the huge glass shields on his face was cracked. If he wanted to see clearly, he'd have to squint that eye shut and look through the other one. He might as well be blind without the glasses. "Yeah, right. Good idea." He scoffed.

This set her off. She took a step toward him, purple eyes flashing dangerously. The laser was pointed straight at the middle of his chest.

_She searched with her mind. Anything physical was pretty much useless... Wherever she was. Her mind ran free until she hit a wall. The wall felt a little something like a wall of foam, but it seemed to go on forever. _

_She shoved herself against it. No luck. She did it again._

"TRY HARDER!"

_The voice commanded loudly. Tak nodded, then put all her effort into this shove. If she didn't get it this time, she'd be too exhausted... And Dib would be killed. _

_She shoved herself against it with such force that it somehow mentally hurt._

_At that moment, a million things seemed to happen. _

A thousand things happened at that moment. Snare's finger had been about to pull the trigger on the laser, to end this and completely force Tak into a life of misery as a loveless PAK soul.

But she cried out. The laser dropped, and she clutched her head, screaming. "DIB! SAVE YOURSELF!" Could be audible.

_She had regained control over her own body. For the time being, at least. Now she and Snare were shoving each other back and forth, yelling and screaming and shoving for who had power over the body. Tak was weak and dizzy-feeling after that shove through the wall. She kept fighting. Something had to be done fast to end this... Or she'd be overcome and Dib would be killed. Then it hit her._

In physical form, Tak-Snare's fingers slowly crept behind her to the PAK. There was the sound of wire's snapping loudly. And Tak's PAK-less body fell forward, the PAK was over by the wall.


	28. I'm Sorry

_**I'm Sorry**_

"_**Summer has come and passed...**_

_**The innocent can never last.**_

_**Wake me up when September ends." -- Green Day, "Wake Me Up When September Ends"**_

It's surprising how much someone can lose in a very short amount of time. Even as Dib sat there, feeling weak and tired, he had to stay up. His brown eyes would try to shut, but he kept them open, no matter how bloodshot they looked.

They were trying to put Tak's PAK back on, and they had no idea if it would work. Zim was injured as well. He bit his lip.

This reminded him of when Mom died. He felt his eyes water immediately at the thought of her, and clenched them shut. He looked down at his watch. On Earth... It would be approximately two in the morning.

He felt his eyelids droop heavily. He grimaced. "That was stupid of you, Tak..." He said softly.

Hours dragged on, and Dib just sat there in silence, his chocolate eyes puffy and bloodshot. His huge glasses, one of the lenses still cracked, were crooked.

x

It seemed like hours. It probably had been. Finally, a Vortian came in. He didn't like her expression. The Vortian's skin was gray, almost silver. Her brown-red horns went back elegantly. Although... What he didn't like was in her eyes. Her eyes were slightly lighter than Irken skin, and looked at him with an almost pitied expression. He suddenly remembered that the Vortian's name was Saoir.

Her voice seemed to come out... Choked. "Tak... Isn't going to live through this."

There was a long silence. The air around them seemed to go cold. "We even had Zim... Try to do something... There was nothing he could do... The wires were completely yanked out of the PAK and her body..."

Dib felt his eyes water as Saoir continued. "And... It can't be repaired."

There was prolonged silence. "You can... Go in... If you like..." But he was already inside. Zim was sitting there in a chair, looking completely guilty. His PAK had obviously gained damage. He looked up. "Dib..."

Dib turned his head to wear Zim had been looking. Tak was lying there, PAKless, on a life support. Her purple eyes were shut. The PAK lay taken apart on a metal table next to the bed.

"I'm sorry." Dib looked behind him at Zim. "I tried... I really did... I tried to save her life..." He clenched his zipper-like teeth, and shut his eyes tightly, as if to keep himself from crying. "I just wasn't good enough. She's not going to live, and it's my fault."

Dib looked at Zim. For some reason, he couldn't find his voice. At least Tak was still alive. It showed her heart was still going, although fainter than usual.

Then there was a very faint murmur. "Dib...?"

Dib turned his head again to look at her. He zipped to her side. Her violet eyes, usually so full of fight and life, were half-lidded and dull.

"I'm... I'm not going to live... Am I?"

Dib looked at her quietly. He could feel the unshed tears in his eyes. "I don't know. I just... Don't know." He whispered.

Tak looked at him quietly. "I'm sorry... I never told you I loved you when I did. I never... I never let you tell me that. I was scared."

"Scared of..." Dib swallowed. This couldn't be happening. "Scared of what?"

"Scared that she would kill you."

There was some long silence. "No, Tak... It's okay..."

"No it's not." Tears were appearing in the Irken's eyes. "It's not okay. I... I... I should have told you... Because now..."

"No... Tak... Don't die..."

"Now... I won't have another chance... I have to squeeze it all in... And I have to tell you how much I love you... Before I die." One of her hands weakly went up to the transmitter on the side of her head. She said something faintly in Irken.

There was a scar where it had been, although it came off easily. "I'm sorry this is all I have..." She whispered as she pressed it gently into his hand.

"Tak... No... Don't say that..."

Tak looked at him and nodded quietly. "Please don't make this harder than it needs to be... Please..."

"No, Tak! You can't give up! You just can't!"

Tak looked at him, tears still welling up in her eyes. "I can... And I have to..."

"No... Tak..."

"I love you." And she kissed him. The first and last time she would ever kiss him on purpose.

Dib's eyes watered. "I love you, too." He whispered.

She smiled faintly, before her eyes slid shut.

There was no sound other than the constant beep signifying that her heart was no longer beating.

Invader Tak of Irk was dead.

**Waaaah! I've been planning this since like, chapter five. I'm not responsible for tears... Especially since I'm crying myself. This isn't quite over yet. There are still a few things I have to get out of the way.**

**Again, huge thank-you to Ranekaera for doing an illustration.**

**saoirseranekaera(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/DATR-unhappily-ever-after-101456194**


	29. The Aftermath

_**The Aftermath**_

**Now don't tell me you thought it was over, llama beavers! I've still got this chapter, the epilogue, (Which some of you I think will really like. ) and then the quotes, dedications, and thanks. I might not go with the LS idea immediately. It's still undeveloped. I tried to write it last night, but… It was too undeveloped. I hadn't thought enough about what Kanata's life would be like. I'll probably end up doing a parody of this fan fiction. XD Then I have an idea, but it's REALLY overly used… Meh. I'll think about it while I do the parody. Now do you llama beavers understand why there will be no sequel? XD **

**Well, this will be the last quote I use. ('Cept for that very last chapter.) I hope you guys have listened to the play list and looked at the illustrations. I'm still adding to the play list, you know. XD **

**Alright. Let's go. The second-to-last real chapter.**

**P.S. - Surprisingly, I had no, "POOR DIBS!" Haha! Literally, all of the reviews said, "Poor Tak." **

**Tak: HAHAHAHA!**

**Dib: -Sulking- WAIT, YOU'RE ALIVE?!**

**Me: Hehe. Okies! LET'S GO! **

**P.S.S. - Joe, I think we all know where Snare is. Hahaha. YES, I DO KNOW! Points downward and laughs hysterically**

"_**T'was a long and dark December…**_

_**From the rooftops I remember.**_

_**There was snow.**_

_**White snow." -- Coldplay, "Violet Hill"**_

Weeks seemed to pass by extremely slowly. It was only a week until Christmas.

Dib stabbed angrily at his broccoli. Gaz looked at him blankly. "And _what _did the broccoli do to you?" She asked, her eyes, almost always half-lidded stared at him.

Nothing really. He just needed to take his anger out on something. Preferably a vegetable. It was so close to Christmas… And he'd be alone. Dad was always working, but then again, that wasn't new, was it?

Gaz would be with some of her friends. They were going to New York for a week. Zim was going to be at the Resisty base ship… Even though they were _both _the Earth branch of the Resisty.

Yes.

The Resisty had gotten a branch on Earth.

Did you need any more information? Or are you okay?

Good.

They hadn't really bothered to get a Christmas tree. Maybe a few lights outside the house worked, but that was about it. Dib muttered something irritably and simply thrust the plate into the sink, thinking he'd clean it later. He climbed the ladder from his room to the rooftop.

When he was up, he groaned and collapsed, his forearm over his eyes. It was twilight. The setting sun gave the clouds pinkish shadows that swirled around. It seemed… Calm. There were no Christmas carolers out, making it completely silent.

Great.

One month. He'd gone one month without thinking about her. Now why'd he go and screw up now? One month in his nice little shell that numbed him from everything else in the world.

And now, just because he would be alone on Christmas Day, he suddenly had to think about her?

_You're laughing at me, aren't you, Tak?_

Of course she was. He could imagine her, sitting in her little Irken heaven or whatever, laughing at him. She'd have a finger pointed, going, "HA! Loo-zer!" Then she'd just sit back and enjoy the show.

Dib huffed something. He finally sat up, his hands clenched into fists. "Oh, yeah? Well I don't need you!" He shouted into thin air. He realized his cheeks were wet with tears. He wiped his face with his sleeve quickly.

Then, snow began to fall. He groaned and leaned back, not caring anymore whether or not it fogged up his glasses.

The little annoying white flakes landed on his nose. He shook it off angrily. "Stupid Tak… Wither her stupid PAK soul… Thinks she's so much better…"

Somewhere along the lines, he felt tears streaming down his face.

He wiped his eyes again and sighed, watching the sun set.

x

The car came to a stop in front of the air port. "I'll give you a call when I land." Was the last thing Gaz said before she got out to get her luggage out of the trunk. Dib sighed and leaned back, putting a single hand on the steering wheel. He shut his eyes.

It only took them a few seconds to start honking. He opened his eyes and rolled them. "Stupid…" He muttered under his breath before driving out of line and back onto the freeway.

Christmas Eve was tomorrow. Lights were up everywhere, some people had even painted their windows with that white junk… Whatever it was. They said things like,

"MERRY XMAS!!"

Or some other obnoxious message like that.

Dib knew he wouldn't have exactly the best Christmas ever…

Okay, it was going to suck.

He was going to be all alone. In Japan, wasn't Christmas considered like, the season of lovers or something?

He shoved it out of his head immediately.

Love didn't exist for him any more. Love wasn't real.

Love was a lie.

And just like that, he went home…

And spent the rest of the day alone.

**This was the second-to-last chapter… MEEEH!! You guys will like the ending. I promise! No sad stuffs! I just can't believe it's ending. WAH! -Hugs all of the reviewers- I might finish this tonight, mostly because it's raining, and it'll set the mood better. XD Okay, guys! I'll see you in the last chapter! **

**Sayonara!**

**-- Invader Chavonne / Tallest Yellow**


	30. Not So Lonely

_**Lonely-Be-Not**_

**Hi, everyone. ^^ Sorry there have been so few updates. I just got back from camping with my Girl Scout Troupe. I'm tired. -sigh- **

**Okay, well, last chapter.**

**I have a new FF I have an idea for, but… My OC doesn't have a name. -.- Don't laugh! -hits- **

**Anyway, I'm sure JoeMerl has seen this already, but there's a pretty dang funny illustration here:**

**Saoirseranekaera(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Why-not-toast-marshmellows-101620567**

**XD XD XD **

**Err- I dunno why, but I had trouble doing this chapter… Grrrr… T.T**

**Alright… Here we go.**

The best way to describe that night was… Really, really, really quiet. Dib glanced at the clock. "Midnight…" He whispered softly as a breeze came in through the window. Thousands of kids were asleep right now, probably expecting Santa Claus.

It was actually three more hours before he felt his eyelids become heavy. He blinked slowly, but one time, he didn't open his eyes again.

_A lot of people don't know what to think when they see someone they thought dead. Dib was one of those people. _

"… _I wasn't laughing, you know…"_

_He turned his head. At first sight of those violet eyes, he jumped, his own chocolate ones widening. It was Tak._

_Maybe there was a change, the white wings, for instance, or the golden halo, for another… But there was no mistaking it._

_She was Tak, in all her smart-aleck, I'm-better-than-you-attitude, sarcastic glory. She smiled vaguely, although her eyes carried some sort of heavy guilt. _

"_I'm sorry!" She shouted, then fell against him, her head resting against his chest as her eyes filled with tears. Dib blinked, surprised by her sudden act. "I didn't mean to hurt you…" She whispered guiltily. _

_Dib, taken aback, just blinked for several moments, then sighed, his hands going around her. _

"_It's okay…" He said, actually unsure of whether it was or not. _

_Tak shut her eyes. For a long time, they only listened to each other's breathing. Then she said softly, "You're mother is a wonderful woman."_

_Dib completely tensed. "What?"_

"_I said that your mother is a fantastic woman." Tak repeated quietly. Dib blinked, then nodded quietly. He decided logic didn't count right now._

"_I… I have to go soon. You're waking up in a few minutes." Tak said, glancing down at her feet with a guilty expression._

"_What do you mean?" Dib's head suddenly felt foggy and unclear._

"_This…" Tak's voice sounded a little choked. "This is a dream." She said with a sigh. Then she walked forward, and put one hand on his shoulder. "I wish Angels could feel…" She murmured. Dib's eyes softened slightly. He reached out to her, but she took a step back, then looked at him quietly._

"_Natashia oi saira, Dib…" She said quietly._

"_Shiawase negai kanata kara."_

Dib's eyes snapped open. It had just been a dream. Only a… Dream… But it had seemed so… Real. Maybe it was real… But it had been a dream.

He hoped so. He really hoped that, maybe, just maybe… It had been real.

Then, he didn't expect this part. Zim popped up over him. "Got back early!" He said in a somewhat joyful tone.

As Dib jumped up, with GIR grabbing his leg screaming, "DIBBERS!!" He couldn't help but think…

Maybe…

Just maybe…

He wouldn't be so lonely after all.

Besides…

He'd see her again some day.

**At approximately 7:22 PM Central Time on October 26th, 2008, "A Broken Promise" Was finished.**

**Did my best to make it decent, although I doubt it was. Until my plot for my ZimxOC is developed, I might be writing, "A Broken Promise - The Musical!" XD I seriously might. Anyway… I want to do the Thanks and Dedications right here. So here we go.**

_Dedicated to Mary Lou Hurley, (Nunu) I didn't know you for very long, but I know you were a great person, and I love you. _

_**Thanks to Naphy, (Tallest Orange) Paris, (TallestBlue) Kevin and Nana for reading this all the way through and giving me real critiques. (As well as not asking why an 11-year-old is doing a romance.)**_

_**A picture is worth a thousand words. We must have four thousand extra words! Thanks to Ranekaera for doing illustrations! **_

_**Thanks to my oh-so-diligent reviewers who I will always be thankful for:**_

_**JoeMerl, Tallest Orange, TallestBlue, Ranekaera, and , the only ones who actually reviewed almost every chapter, or reviewed more than once! I LURVE YOU GUYS!**_

**I love everyone reading this, because it means you took the time to read this whole thing. So thanks to YOU for reading this! Keep an eye out for these two:**

"**A Broken Promise - The Musical!"**

**And**

"**Spacebourne" (Possible name. It's still under construction.)**

**THANK YOU!**

**Invader Chavonne, signing out.**


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